Twilight: Reversed Roles
by Geneth
Summary: In Twilight, Bella falls for Edward Cullen & Jacob is the boy who's crushing on her. But what if the roles were reversed? What if Jacob was the mysterious boy at school & Edward was the boy who shared his secret? Can love be found out from its changes?
1. Prologue

I had never really thought about how I might die –though I thought I might several times in the last couple of months– but even if I had stopped to think about it, I would have never imagined my life to end like this.

I stared breathlessly across the dark room, into the glowing eyes of the huntress, and she returned my gaze apathetically.

Surely it was an honorable way to die, in the place of someone else, someone that I loved. Meritorious, even. That should have at least counted for something. Anything.

I knew that if I had never moved to Forks, I wouldn't be here, in this position, now. But, as aghast as I was, I couldn't force myself to deplore my previous decision. When life awards you a dream that is so beyond your expectations, it's not suitable to morn when it all comes to the finale.

The huntress smiled a murderous yet impossibly friendly grin at me as she danced forward to kill me


	2. First Sight

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the following Twilight characters, items, events, or locations.**  
Please also note that I am basically rewriting Twilight but with major changes in characters (like Edward, Jacob, and of course our new villains) and events that occur (you'll find out more about that later). In case the blurb kind of threw you off, I'm working on a reverse story of Twilight. I've always wondered what would happen if Jacob and Edward switched places, like Jacob was Bella's first love and Edward came in during New Moon as her rebound (not that I don't love Edward!) I don't want to stray to far from the original book/series itself, so you might see the similar lines and sentences (like the Prologue was just basically a newly molded version of the Preface). I'm not stealing anything, for every word and phrase I say is really property of Stephenie Meyer.

~Geneth

* * *

Arriving in Port Angeles, Washington on a rainy day should've dawned me as a bad omen, but I was too distracted to really care. The flight had been quite lonely, thinking about my mother whose endless hope was for me to return home, but the upcoming hour-long drive to Forks in the car with Charlie worried me immensely.

Charlie greeted me outside of the airport, leaning on the police cruiser. He instantly straightened up, and gave me a slight maladroit hug, smiling from ear to ear. "You haven't changed much, Bells. How's Renée?"

"Mom's fine, Dad. It's great to see you."

As we climbed into the cruiser, Charlie announced that he had bought me a car that "well suited me". I instantly became suspicious, for my father knew how left-footed I was. I questioned where he had gotten it.

"Do you remember that new family, the Cullens, I told you about?"

I thought for a moment, searching my mind for any bits or pieces of my father's monthly letters and emails. When I was younger, the letters had been something to look forward to during the time I spent in school. As I grew older, I started to skim the letters for any major topics, and then cast the letters aside. Finding no recognition to the name, I shook my head.

"They just moved in two years ago," he hinted, waiting for the memory to surface in my mind.

I vaguely cited one of Charlie's letters. He had described the Cullens as "one of his favorite families" and often put in detail the warm evenings spent with them. Charming and "quite lovely to look at", the Cullens were obviously Charlie's new best friends. He had claimed how friendly and elegant they were, and how they were excited on meeting me if I came to Forks.

"Carlisle bought a new car," Charlie continued when I was unresponsive, "and was thinking of selling the car to a local dealer, but when he heard I was looking for one for you, he offered it for a lower price."

"What kind of car is it?"

"Um, I think it's a Dodge Ram, one of those pickup trucks. He said he bought it maybe ten years ago; he doesn't remember clearly."

"How much did it cost?" I asked, fully willing to throw in my savings for this car. I wasn't much for driving around in a cruiser, and the truck was my way out.

"Well, I kinda of already bought it for you…Consider it a homecoming gift." Charlie shot me a hopeful glance, his face tinted red with embarrassment.

"Really? Wow, Dad, thanks. I truly appreciate it."

He mumbled something inaudibly, and then shifted his attention back to the winding roads. Conversation subsided and we lapsed into silence, him driving and me studying the greenery that muffled the beauty of the quiet town.

When we pulled up in front of Charlie's house, I glanced up the street and saw the absurdly new car parked up front. It was a deep glossy red, with a large square lights, tall tires, and a capacious cab that could probably seat at least six people. But that wasn't why I loved it so much. When I opened the driver's door, a small group of steps drifted out, allowing me to climb into the front without bruising or scraping myself like I normally did. This car was no doubt Bella-proof.

After thanking Charlie a few million times, I went up to my old room to unpack. Digging through my clothes and placing them neatly into one of the faded dressers that lined the wall, I thought of how my peers would receive me. I was an outcast, the new girl from a city so different from their own, while the others probably knew each other since diapers.

Tomorrow would be a new day, and I would have to receive it as it came.

Upon arriving for the first time to Forks High School, I immediately felt displaced with the other students. My teachers regarded me with awareness as they learned who I was. The daughter of the police chief's frivolous ex-wife had finally returned home, perhaps to stay. Few students greeted me, offering tours and quicker routes for my traveling, but the others kept their distance. I laughed at the thought that they could possibly be more scared of me than I of them.

As I sat at the crowded lunch table with some of the analytical yet welcoming strangers who questioned my opinions on the town, I peered absently from the corner of my eye and that's when I saw them.

Shadowed in the damp corner of the cafeteria, the pack of eight sat talking in hushed tones amongst themselves. The trays and plates in front of them were bare, whatever bits of food gone without a trace. Somehow, through all of their whispering and secrecy, I got the impression that they weren't talking about me. They never once glanced my way, so it was easy to gawk slightly at them.

Despite the various ranges in sizes, all of the figures looked alike. The boys sat lazily in their chairs, looking bored. Two of the boys sat at the end of the table, one with short chopped hair and the other with a dark buzz cut, chatting in such a way that made me yearn for my old friends back in Phoenix. Another sat with his muscled arms crossed in front of him, inattentively speaking into his cell phone, his cropped black hair falling into his eyes to complete the look of utter boredom.

One boy observed the room around him with chilly slits for eyes. He looked like the type that was easily angered, and the chattering boys distanced slightly away from him. A smaller boy with slight features and a generous smile gazed admiringly at the table's clear leader, who was a much older looking boy. He was taller and burlier than his similar looking tablemates, and his face seemed more aged than that of a typical teen.

There was only one girl that sat at that table, and her artistry replaced her obvious loneliness. Short, dark hair glistened in a stray beam of sunlight, and her long eyelashes sealed her eyes shut as she tried to focus on something unseen. Long legs were crossed under the table and the top one swung with anxiousness, accidentally kicking the boy sitting across from her.

He shot her a look with his friendly eyes, and she shrugged nonchalantly as an apology. He tossed his chin-length hair away off one of his massive forearms, and he seemed just as older and sophisticated as the table's leader. The girl mumbled something towards him, and he shook his head and laughed quietly at her, sharing the private joke. The two looked as if they were modeling for a matchmaker ad, where you see a perfect couple giggling with each other while the words printed across the front scream, "You can end up like them!"

It was hard for me to look away from the pulchritudinous students, and I couldn't decide on which was more indefectible, the exotic beauty or her assumed partner. She was pretty in an unnoticeable way, while his masculine features stood out and made him seem inhumanly beautiful. The others, however, looked like something out of a weight lifting magazine, and if you made them stand in a lineup, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the first four boys.

"Who are _they_?" I asked one of my classmates, a small girl with untidy wisps of dark curls. She glanced up and looked to where I gestured. A small smile played on the corner of her lips. My slightly fried thoughts allowed her name to reappear in my memory. Jessica Stanley; I should've remembered such a simple name.

"Those are the children of the Quileute Indian tribe," she explained. "They live in La Push, an area about fifteen minutes away from Forks, on a reservation."

"They're very…nice-looking." I assayed my words carefully, searching for an apathetic statement.

Jessica snickered slightly, and then pointed towards the babbling boys at the end of the table. "That's Quil Ateara," –the boy with the black crew cut- "and that's Embry Call." She moved her finger towards the boy with the chopped hair. "Definitely the class clowns of the bunch. They're also extremely flirty, so don't get all flustered if they talk to you. Quil has an acclaimed girlfriend, and Embry isn't open for relationships apparently.

"Jared, the one on his cell phone, is what people could call…easily disinterested. His girlfriend goes to La Push High, so don't expect him to respond, should you ever talk with him." Jessica winked broadly towards me at this statement. I frowned in return, and urged her on.

She advanced to the next boy, the callous-looking one. "That's Paul. He has the worst temper, and can change moods in the blink of an eye. Don't get him angry or you'll end up like…" Just then, one of the kids from the neighboring table threw a paper airplane into the air, meaning for it to hit his tablemate in front of him. Instead, the plane twisted wildly and hit Paul in the back of the head. He jerked up from the table, quivering with anger and flinging strings of curses at the shrinking student. The table's leader stood up, looking annoyed yet calm, and gently but firmly pulled him back down into his seat.

Jessica breathed a sigh of relief, as did the boy who had thrown the airplane. "God knows what we would do without Sam," she mumbled under her breath, motioning towards the commander of the table, who was now heatedly talking to Paul. By the looks of his motions and the pace of his words, I could only imagine how motherly Sam sounded. "Sam's such a great guy," sighed Jessica as she nodded towards him. "He keeps all of his boys in place, so they don't end up fighting with us. And, quite honestly, I don't think our best fighter here could even take down Seth." She signaled towards the smaller, perhaps the youngest, boy who was nodding severely along with Sam's lecture.

"And don't get me started on Leah Clearwater!" Jessica exclaimed as she motioned towards the lone girl at the table. "She is courted by most of the junior class and yet she snubs each and every one of them! If she wasn't Seth's sister, the other boys in the pack would be chasing after her like there was no tomorrow. There's even a rumor going around that she's going to be elected to be homecoming queen, but she'd probably deny that too! " Jessica sniffed slightly at the comment, and I covered up my laugh with a cough. Obviously, Jessica was hoping to be elected as well, and she apparently didn't like her competition.

"I've saved the best for last," Jessica announced, climaxing towards her big finale with an overdramatic voice. She pointed towards the flamboyant boy, the one with the longest hair and the biggest smile. "That's Jacob Black, resident bad boy of Forks High School. Completely gorgeous, of course, but don't bother with him. Just like his wingman Embry, he doesn't date." Again, Jessica gave a sniff, peeved by this fact as well.

Jacob got up from his table, tray tucked under one arm, and he slowly advanced towards the garbage cans. As he dumped his tray into the trash, he looked up and caught my eye with his own dark brown ones. The corner of his mouth twitched up slightly, in something similar to a half smile, and then he twisted around and walked quickly back to his table.

Jessica gaped at me. "Oh. My. God. Jacob Black actually looked at the new girl!" she crowed, and the other table patrons glanced up from their conversations. I flushed red and stammered over my words of explanation. It was only coincidence that he looked at our table out of ten other tables that surrounded the garbage cans, and he looked at me instead of my seven other peers. "But he smiled at you!" Jessica insisted. "He never even looks at me and I've been here longer than you have!"

As Jessica hyperventilated with another girl at the table, I looked casually from the corner of my eye at that dark table again. Jacob's face, which had been attentive and mischievous, had now darkened and covered by a shadow. Sam sat next to him, whispering to him and the other members. They all nodded seriously, Jacob biting his lip as he silently agreed.

When he looked at me again as we filed out of the cafeteria, his eyes were no longer as amicable as they once were. In fact, they were wary. I turned before he could catch me staring, curiosity pulsing through me like a stream into a river.

Just what had Sam said that made Jacob suddenly become stiff?

* * *

Thoughts? Questions? Comments? All are accepted; all critisism and critiques are taken into consideraton on how to make this piece better!


	3. First Contact

I walked to Biology II with one of my newfound acquaintances, a shy girl named Angela who didn't badger me like her friends and actually gave me some space. It was good, too, for I was deep in thought of the cafeteria moment. Had Sam spread a rumor about me, the new girl? No, he didn't know the first thing about me!

As we entered the room, Angela went up the aisle and sat timidly down next to Eric Yorkie, a lanky boy from the Welcoming Committee who was carrying a loud conversation with the boy next to him. When he saw me, he waved and grinned. I waved uncertainly back, watching Angela's face fall as I responded. Perhaps she had a crush on him.

The only available seat was near the back of the classroom. I didn't mind sitting in the back –I had average eyesight- but there was something else that made me suddenly wished I had a different seat.

Jacob Black sat in the opposite seat, humming to himself as he twirled his pencil round and round. Two seats in front of him sat Quil Ateara, chatting flirtatiously with Lauren Mallory, one of the girls on the Welcoming Committee. Lauren kept trying to repeat that she wasn't interested, even though she was enjoying the attention, but every time she did, Quil just turned it up a notch. Leah Clearwater sat a few rows across from him, and she chuckled at his foolishness.

Mr. Banner quieted the class, all while motioning for me to sit next to Jacob. I walked down the aisle towards my new seat, and I watched the facial expressions of the Quileute tribe slowly changed. Leah's expression morphed into a mixture between angry and aghast, while Quil's face turned strangely sympathetic, and he shot his glare towards Jacob. I flushed. Why did they see me as a troublemaker, a person that they should fear?

I sat carefully down next to Jacob, who automatically inched his chair ever so slightly away from mine. His eyes were slightly panicky, and his posture was tense. He looked away, embarrassed, as if I had something on my face or on my shirt that would make me look like a fool. As inconspicuously as I could, I scratched the corners of my mouth. Nope, nothing there. My pencil dropped onto my lap, and I looked down to examine my blouse. No, nothing there ether. I gently brushed my hair over my shoulder, making a curtain between us as I tried to focus on the teacher.

The lecture was one that I had already heard, unfortunately, so I sat quietly, scribbling notes while sketching lightly in the margins of my notebook. I peeked occasionally at the strange boy next to me, who stared straight ahead at a spot above the teacher's head. During the entire class, he never relaxed from his position. I could see his nails digging into his palms, forming stiff fists, as if he was on the verge of running away from me. The sleeves of his long-sleeved, dark gray shirt was folded neatly up to his elbow, and his biceps bulged out in every which direction. He might not have been as burly as his leader, Sam, but he was in every way brawny and built like a football player.

The class drowned on and on, and I stopped peeking at Jacob as Mr. Banner went around, peeking over at everyone's paper to make sure we were taking proper notes. Jacob's paper was blank, and he didn't seem to care. Leah, a few rows ahead, folded up a piece of paper into an airplane, and then threw it expertly at Jacob's head. It landed neatly in front of him, and he unfolded it carelessly. I snuck a quick look at it, and through the many creases, I could see that it was a perfect copy of Mr. Banner's lecture. Jacob looked up and mouthed thanks to Leah, who rolled her eyes playfully and mouthed back, "What would you do without me?"

She caught me staring at her, and her face went hard again. She tossed her short hair out of her eyes, and then cockily turned back to her desk. I peeked back towards Jacob, and instantly regretted it. His face was hard too, but his eyes were alert and wary. It was as if I was a dangerous animal, and he was keeping me at bay.

Mr. Banner frowned at Jacob's messy yet perfect notes, and turned to Leah, who was pretending to write something down in her planner. He opened his mouth to harangue them both, but the bell beat him to it. Jacob was out of his seat in a flash, rising up to his over six-foot height. He walked quickly towards the door, pausing only to let Leah and Quil catch up with him, and then left without another glance towards me.

I blinked after him, and then rose slowly to my feet. Another boy, Mike Newton of the Welcoming Committee, appeared, ready to chaperone me to my next class. I struggled to keep focused on his questions, and I found myself thinking of Jacob Black and his strange friends.

As final bell rang, I scurried to the main office to hand in my paperwork. I opened the door, and almost immediately backed out. The entire Quileute tribe of kids stood, gathered around the receptionist's desk. I quickly identified Jacob, who was speaking in a velvety yet husky voice towards the front of the group. They all were arguing quietly to the overwhelmed receptionist, who was trying to calm them down.

"I can't transfer all eight of you into different classes!" she wailed, her face tired and her voice strained.

"But we can't be in this class!" Sam replied hotly, his face dangerously close to the receptionist's personal space. He stabbed the paper with his finger, and the others nodded in agreement. I pretended to look into the Lost and Found bin, and caught a glimpse of the papers that were waved in front of her. All of the russet-colored fingers pointed towards various periods, and it took me a moment to realize there were all classes that I was in. A lump rose in my throat, and I started to make my way back to the door, deciding to give the papers in tomorrow instead.

Suddenly, the door flew open, slamming into the back wall. A monitor for a teacher stepped in, dropped a folder full of papers into a large box marked "COPIES", and then stepped out. But this commotion caused all eight of the kids to turn, seeing me trying to escape. As if in unison, all of the eyes narrowed. The only face that narrowed, and then turned away to sigh quietly, was Jacob's.

Sam twisted around to the receptionist. "Never mind. We'll come back another time," he mumbled furiously, stalking out of the office. His arm brushed mine lightly, and he turned to me. "Excuse me," he said, rather rudely, and he continued on his way.

The other tribe members followed; with Jacob bring up the rear. He turned away from me again, and then strode out with the rest of his friends.

"How was your first day, dear?" the receptionist asked, her voice returned to her friendly state, as she took my papers from me.

"Fine," I replied, my voice strained. She raised her eyebrows with suspicion, but then turned away. I ran to the unfamiliar yet cozy car, turned on the heater, and drove home on the verge of tears.

* * *

Thoughts? Critiques? All are welcome, especially since I'm basically rewriting one of the great teen books! By the way, even though I'm writing this fanfic, I am 100% Team Edward!


	4. Open Book

This chapter is a bit longer than the others, so please bear with me. For those of you with the Twilight books at home, you might have noticed that I'm on my third fanfiction chapter when this is only chapter two in the book. So yeah, don't get confused. :)

Remember: I'm putting minor changes to the book itself, so it's fairly similar.

* * *

The next couple of days were better…and worse.

The day after Jacob Black and his crew of barbaric friends welcomed me to my new school ever so politely, I came to school feeling worn. I hadn't slept at all during the night, listening to the house settle and considering confronting Jacob or Sam and demanding to know what their problem was. I planned my defense in my head, settling with "You don't even know me" as the ending phrase before I would amble away, leaving them in my dust.

And then another part of me started to argue that the whole gang could easily take me down, a lowly newcomer who was only slowly gaining "friends". A shiver went down my spine as I thought about how big each Quileute was; even Leah outweighed me in muscle by a hefty sum.

But when I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica later that day, I noticed that the only two table patrons were the youngest, Seth, and the constantly bored one, Jared. The rest of the chairs were vacant, and a few daring freshmen girls came up to freely flirt with Seth, who I assumed was a sophomore. Apparently they had more courage to come up and talk with him when his sister, Leah, was not there. Seth chatted shyly with them for a few moments before Jared paused his daily cell phone conversation, shooting them cold glares that got them to leave instantly. Seth never stopped him, just looked down and went back to eating.

I kept careful watch as the lunch period slipped by, waiting for Jacob and the rest of the Quileutes to emerge from the doorway, take their seats at the near empty table, and then proceed to shoot me angry looks out of the corner of their eyes. But they never came. For the whole timeframe, it was only Seth and Jared.

They weren't there in any other of my classes ether. I had the whole Biology table to myself, and with growing confidence, confirmed to myself that the kids I had so feared were absent for today. Mr. Banner raised an eyebrow at all of the absentees, and asked the class if anyone had seen Mr. Black or Miss. Clearwater. One of the students piped up, "Probably some Quileute holiday," and the others snickered. I frowned slightly, wondering why my peers treated these kids like such outcasts.

For the rest of the week, the Quileutes alternated who came to school. Seth always came, sitting in his usual seat at the large table. He sometimes read, sometimes continued his shy flirting with the girls, and sometimes just stared into space. Jared came once or twice, one time texting throughout the whole lunch period to "his girlfriend of God-knows-how-long, Kim", as Jessica put it. "Honestly, the girl goes to another school! He might as well just choose from the ones here!" she had explained, tossing her curls as she spoke.

Quil and Embry also joined the routine, coming in to lunch to flirt shamelessly to the reddening girls. Quil didn't come back to Biology, though. Paul, the easily angered boy, stalked into the cafeteria, ate his food in a rush, and left the room in about fifteen minutes. I always wondered where he retreated to during the remaining thirty-five minutes, but I never asked my gossip source.

The week ended on a good note, with very little homework and plenty of free time on my hands. Charlie announced during dinner on Saturday that we were going over to have dinner with the Cullens soon, and I responded politely. I had not really much interest in the Cullens, for I presumed that they were another middle-class family whom Charlie had come to favor. Charlie suggested that I might like their youngest son, Edward, and I shuddered. Parental matchmaking always went wrong.

When I came to school on Monday, it was snowing. Never had I experienced snow in my entire life, and I wasn't ready for a Forks winter. Snowballs flew threw the air like gifts from heaven, and I ducked numerous times to avoid being hit in the head. Mike Newton, the overly friendly boy of the Welcoming Committee, and Jessica were elected my unannounced bodyguards, which didn't really help me much, for Mike was a constant target and Jessica a relentless attacker.

It was right during the lunch period that ruined my day. My bodyguards had been called away on an epic snow battle against the others on the Welcoming Committee, and I hurried into the cafeteria to escape the never-ending balls of mush. As I opened the door and stepped into the usual rowdiness, I looked innocently at the table in the shadows. My heart began to beat rapidly, and I took a step back, straight into Mike.

"Bella? Are you okay?" Jessica asked, pulling on my sleeve.

I barely nodded, pulling my eyes away from the table. There were eight people sitting around the circular table, chatting, laughing, and altogether having a good time. Even stone-faced Sam and Paul were mildly chuckling as Quil and Embry chased Leah around the table, daring to try to soak her with hidden icicle balls.

"What's up with Bella?" Mike prodded Jessica.

"Nothing," I replied quickly, "I'll…I'm just going to have a soda today." I hurried away towards the vending machines, fumbling in my pockets for a dollar. It took me a moment to realize that I had no money on me; I had left my bag at the table. If I were to walk there, I would have to answer the inquiries of my new clique, and I treaded that. In addition to my woes, Mike was still throwing leftover snow bits at anyone within a radius.I checked my back pockets, and then my jacket pockets once more. Darn, nothing.

A large shadow loomed over the machine, blocking the light I needed for my search. I turned around, ready to apologize and offer whomever it was to go first. As my mouth opened to speak, it almost instantly clamped shut. Jacob Black stood before me, his head cocked to one side. He wore a simple, tight-fitting hoodie that showed off his forearms, and jeans that looked worn to the breaking point.

He brushed a few strands of stray hair away from his face, and then reached into his pocket. I breathed in, waiting to see what he would present me with. He shot me a curious expression, and then extended his hand towards me. A crisp dollar bill stuck out between his pointer and his thumb, and he motioned wordlessly for me to take it.

"What? Oh no…I couldn't…"

"It's obvious that you don't have a dollar on you," he said in his pleasant speak. "I have a habit of helping out those in need." A teasing tone edged his voice, and he held the dollar out at me again.

The entire Welcoming Committee was watching me from the table behind Jacob, eyes wide. I bit my lip, considering my options, and then carefully took the bill from his hands. "Thank you," I mumbled sheepishly, sticking it into the machine.

"Don't mention it," he replied, equally abashed as he walked back towards his friends, who also watched with awestruck expressions at the exchange.

For the rest of the lunch hour, I struggled to remain silent under Jessica's questions and intruding. Mike thankfully got the rest of the table pumped about a civil war against another group of students, and they immediately forgot the incident. But Jessica continued to bug me, wanting to know what Jacob had given me. Every time I insisted it was only a dollar, she had snorted, "You sure his phone number wasn't on it too?"

Biology was up next, and I sighed with relief as I saw the once more empty seats that usually belonged to the perfect Quileute children. Everyone was still chatting about the snow and battle strategies for wars to come, so I sat doodling, trying to avoid speaking to anyone.

Final bell silenced the class, and Mr. Banner opened his mouth to begin his latest speech. Suddenly, the door slammed open and Leah, Quil, and Jacob entered, covered with snow and laughing. Mr. Banner shot them looks, and the three hurried into their seats. Jacob's chair moved out with a loud scratch, and he sat fluidly down next to me.

I forced my eyes ahead, unwilling to say anything to him throughout the beginning of the lecture. After a few moments of instructions, Mr. Banner motioned towards the microscopes and slides placed before us. "Get started," he commanded as he began to strut purposefully around the room.

"Hello again…Bella," Jacob said softly, his voice gentle. I looked up at his large stature and saw that he was in fact smiling warmly at me. Snow was melting in his dark hair, and he absentmindedly pushed it out of his eyes again. His eyes were masked, however, and I could see the slight worry hidden beneath it.

"Hello…Jacob," I replied, just as careful as he. He was so perfectly polite now that something clicked in my brain, trying to push the memory of his slight coldness out. Had I imagined his facial expression, his actions towards whatever I did?

"Do you want to start?" he asked, his tone friendly, referring to the experiment.

"Um, sure." I replied idiotically.

I studied the slide, and then filled in the answer on the worksheet that Mr. Banner had set before us. He glanced at my answer, and then raised one of his heavy-set brows. "Do you mind if I look?" he asked, reaching over to take the microscope at the exact same time as I began to remove the slide.

His hand had been up to try to stop me from my task, and his hands held mine unintentionally. His fingers were blazing, hot as if he had been holding them close to a large fire before class. But that wasn't why I pulled my hand back so quickly. When his hand touched mine, the blood rushed through me and it felt as if I was being cut from the inside. The burn hurt and I jumped as well as clutched my hand.

"I'm…I'm so sorry," he muttered expeditiously, pulling his hand away but still taking the microscope from me. I watched him with eyes full of warning.

"Are you okay? You're…you're really rather warm for the average…"

His eyes didn't even look up as he interrupted, eyes focusing on the slide. "No, I'm fine. I'm always like this…" Jacob looked at the worksheet, and then back at the slide. "I honestly can't tell the difference between this and Interphase, so I'll trust you on this one," he added with forced cheerfulness, struggling to break the tense atmosphere.

I nodded, switching the slides. He took his turn first this time, and pondered quietly for a moment. "Anaphase," he finally said.

"Can I…?" I held my hand out, and he pushed it to me with another smile playing on the corners of his lips.

I looked, and confirmed his answer, writing it down on the worksheet. He didn't offer to write, just watched curiously as I also filled in the explanation part of the worksheet. It was good that he let me work, as opposed to taking turns writing. Besides, the faint scrawl on his own binder looked like the type that would have Mr. Banner screaming, "No, no, do it over now!"

Although he assured me that he wasn't that good with Biology, he answered most of the questions on the sheet. I took up the job as scribe, adding my own personal opinions here and there to answers. We finished the work before most of the other groups, and Jacob turned away to look aimlessly out the window again, his mind somewhere else. I turned my position slightly to stare at him. He shifted as well, and I noticed a small difference to his face. His hair was perhaps five inches longer than when I had last seen him, and no human hair that I knew of grew five inches longer in a little less than a week. Was it possible for guys to get extensions?

He cracked his neck suddenly, and twisted his head ever so slightly, catching me rudely looking at him. I turned away, face flushing bright pink. He seemed to know what I had been gaping at, and he shrugged modestly. "Yeah, I know it's kinda long for a guy. Can't help it though; it's in the genetics. Most Quileutes have long hair."

Leah's face popped into my mind, and I peeked at her. She was working with her obedient servant of a partner, twisting a short lock of hair as she tried to ignore the boy's flirty remarks. Jacob caught the gist of my actions and he responded accordingly.

"Leah likes to keep her hair short; she claims it gets long to fast and gets in her eyes."

"Oh." We lapsed into silence again.

Mr. Banner came to our table to find out why we weren't working. He picked up our lab, eyebrows raised, and dropped the paper in front of me. "Bella, did you give Mr. Black a chance to look?" Jacob wrinkled his nose slightly at the Mr. Black remark, perhaps peeved as his title as troublemaker.

"Actually," I replied, "Jacob identified three out of the five slides, and he also answered most of the short response answers." I smiled as angelically as I could, willing him to leave.

It worked; Mr. Banner smiled back and moved on to Mike's table. Jacob smiled a handsome half-smile, his brown eyes twinkling. "Thanks."

"You paid for my soda, and I saved your butt from the teacher," I joked lightly, going back to my doodle. The pattern was actually turning out pretty good, and I wondered if Charlie would let me paint that on the walls.

"I guess so, but a soda is a small thing and the teacher is another. I think," Jacob said, scratching his chin like an old man, "that I still owe you something in order to be equal with the loans." He considered what he could possibly do, and then finally came across an idea. "I could protect you during the snow war later. We Quileutes are decent fighters, and no one really tries to attack us. In fact, I'd say we're stealthy as ninjas."

I smiled, the image of me hiding behind the tall pillars of Jacob and Sam as we ran to the parking lot popping into my mind. I'd still probably be hit, and it worried me. "Thanks," I started, "But I'm not really going to join the…war."

"Why?" A look of realization came across his russet face. "You don't like the cold?"

"Not really. I don't really like the wet ether," I admitted, shading in another part of the pattern with the edge of my pencil.

"Forks must be a hard place for you to live in," he mused, twirling his own pencil with his fingers.

"You have no idea," I mumbled blackly, erasing a stray line that was out of place on the picture.

Jacob tossed his hair again, shooting me a skeptical look. "Why did you move here then?" he asked, his voice not prying like Jessica's, but genuinely curious.

"It's…" I searched for the right word, finding none. "It's complicated."

"I'm sure I can keep up," he replied effortlessly.

I placed my pencil down, biting my lip. I looked up, and accidentally met his gaze. The dark brown irises of his eyes were kind, and open. It reminded me of a slab of dark chocolate, slowly melting in the Phoenix heat. I swallowed and then blurted out without thinking. "My mother got remarried."

"And you don't like the guy she married?"

"No, Phil's fine. A bit young, yes, but a good choice for my mom."

"Then why didn't you stay with them instead of coming here, to the rainiest place on Earth?"

"Phil's a baseball player. Strictly minor league and all, so he travels a lot with his team."

"And your mother sent you here so she could travel with him?" he guessed.

"No," I replied, my chin jutting out stubbornly, "I sent myself. She tried to stay with me at first, but then she got unhappy and started to miss him…so I decided to spend some time with Charlie."

"But, aren't _you_ unhappy?" he asked.

"So?" I challenged, my tone sharper than I intended.

"That doesn't seem entirely fair." He shrugged innocently, pointing out the obvious.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair." I replied, letting out a rather pessimistic chuckle for good measure.

Jacob was finally silent. He sat, studying me with his intense eyes. "Bella, I think you're suffering more than you let or want anyone else to see." He paused dramatically. "Am I right?"

I scowled at him. "Why does it matter to you?" I demanded.

"I didn't mean to offend you…I'm just saying…" he replied apologetically.

Sighing, I turned my attention to the blackboard. I waited for him to finally look away before I relaxed. What a strange boy. I looked through the corner of my eyes at him again, and noticed that he was glaring at Quil. Although they didn't even open their mouths, they stared with such intensity at one another that I had this feeling that they were communicating. Quil caught me staring, for possibly the millionth time, and he raised one of his dark brows. Jacob turned to me and I hastily looked down.

Luckily, the bell rang at that moment and I dropped my books into my bag. Jacob was already out of his chair, and he tossed his own pack onto his shoulder before swiftly leaving with his friends.

Mike appeared at my side. "That was so hard," he complained, "The slides all looked the same. Did Black give you any trouble?"

"No, not really," I replied, hiding my smile at his jealousy. "He was actually pretty nice today." I looked out the window and saw Jacob flinging a fistful of snow towards Leah, who shrieked in response and tackled him to the ground. The entire Quileute group was throwing snowballs at each other, oblivious to the staring teens that went around them.

"I wonder what was with him last Monday," Mike said, his voice spike with envy.

"Guess he was just having a bad day."

* * *

For those of you who are familiar to the chapters of Twilight, you know what's coming up next.  
Let me give you a hint:

Music. Cars. SCREECH! Hospital.

Stay tuned...Please review on what you think I can throw in for the next chapter!


	5. Phenomenon

Sorry about the slow updates! I'm juggling this fanfic and my Phoenix Wright one.  
Enjoy!

~Geneth

* * *

The next morning, I awoke and found the world no longer too green, but too white. I groaned, swaddling myself in blankets as I hurriedly dressed for school. In Phoenix, there was hardly any weather below freezing, but Forks was unpredictable. I dug around and finally found a semi-heavy outfit, throwing on my brown jacket as I gobbled down breakfast.

The truck was amazing, gliding over each and every icy bump with ease, and I wondered for the umpteenth time why Dr. Cullen –Carlisle, as Charlie insisted I call him- had given up such a beautiful car. The insides always smelled of a mixture of flowers and fabric softener. Charlie was super excited on an upcoming holiday, and he insisted I keep my plans loose for dinner. I wasn't looking forward to the awkward dinner I would have with the Cullens' and their four other children. If I couldn't make close friends here, it would be a wonder if I lasted the night! I gripped the wheel tighter.

I climbed out of the large vehicle, slamming the door behind me with unnecessary force. Not only did the car make a loud choking noise, but I realized that I had left my books inside. I sighed, rubbing where I must have hit the Ram and mumbling apologies when I heard an odd sound.

It was a high-pitched screech, and it was piercing to my sensitive ears. I glanced up, surprised by the sudden noise. The moment occurring in front of me was too fast for my brain to comprehend, so every detail and image went slowly into my head as I realized what was happening.

Jacob Black was standing near the bike rack, next to his sleek black motorcycle. A helmet was tucked under his arm, revealing his face of frozen horror, despite his dark locks that fell in front of his eyes. Rounding the corner was a dark blue van, a few feet taller and a good couple of pounds heavier than my precious Ram, and speeding too fast. The van swooped back and forth on the ice of the parking lot, and it was heading straight towards me, stupid me rubbing the side of my truck. I shut my eyes, cowering into the side of my car and the life I could have lived.

But then, something hit me, forcing me onto the icy pavement, but not in the direction the van would have hit me in. My head smashed into the ground, sending random spasms through me, and I felt a large furry ball of heat holding my body down. I opened my eyes and saw that I was on the pavement under the car next to mine, with the van still rushing towards my scarlet car. It aimed itself towards the pavement once again.

The giant dog growled, although it sounded more like a sigh, and held his front shoulder blades out to stop the van. His back paws pushed me further under the dirty car, and the van made impact with him. There was a thud, bone crushing yet metallic, and the van stopped just inches away from my hiding place.

Silence answered the incident, before chaos ensured. The mess should have had me getting to my feet and going to help the driver in the van, but my eyes were locked with my guardian angel. The wolf's familiar brown eyes locked with mine, before he barked out a choking noise. It took me a moment to realize that it sounded like a laugh, and I petted his head. "You are such a good wolf," I smiled. "Thank you. Did your owner train you to do that?"

The wolf barked another laugh, and I started to get to my feet when he slammed me back to the ground. I stared at him questioningly, and he responded with a nod towards the paramedics and the ambulance rushing towards the horrible crash. He settled down on my legs, keeping me warm while preventing me from moving. I giggled, and rubbed the fur on his back.

My jaw hurt slightly, and I stretched, accidentally cracking my neck loudly. The wolf looked up, concerned, and his dark brown eyes made contact with mine for the second time. And this time, I recognized who they belonged to. I stopped rubbing his back and instead gasped.

"J-J-Jacob?"

The wolf turned away, assuming it was a rhetorical question. I tugged lightly on his fur until he turned, slightly annoyed.

"Jacob, I can tell it's you," I said, trying to sound confident.

He rolled his eyes towards me and pretended to wait for the paramedics.

"You…you turned into a wolf…and saved me?"

A short barking laugh, and the wolf turned to stare at me with his eyes. The message in them was clear. _Who the hell is going to believe you?_

"I…I saw what I saw. And if you're not him, where's Jacob Black right now?" The wolf considered this, and then again refused to respond in any way.

"If you're not going to tell me now, at least promise you'll tell me later…Jacob."

The wolf narrowed his eyes, and for yet a moment, I thought I saw him hesitate. Finally, he nodded reluctantly. I opened my mouth to thank him, but he was suddenly at his feet. I looked in the direction he stared at, and saw a small pack of wolves standing in the light woods near the side of the school. It appeared as if the wolves were talking, but of what I wasn't sure. The large black leader shook his head, and blended quickly back into the shadows. A chocolate brown wolf and a silver, feminine wolf ran after him. Jacob, or the wolf, turned back to me, pressed his wet nose to my forehead, and then hurried towards his pack.

I watched him disappear before I climbed out from under the truck. My hair was coated with soot, and a few minor cuts and bruises dotted my arms and legs. Maybe that's why Jessica looked my way, screamed, "BELLA!" and quickly ushered paramedics towards me. They had a hold on me before I could refuse and, although I pleaded and protested, loaded me onto a stretcher.

To make matters even worse, Chief Swan arrived to inspect the accident. He saw me lying on the stretcher, and started yelling in a panicked voice. I tried to calm him, but he insisted on going with me to the hospital.

After the nurses left me in a hospital room, I sat in my bed, staring at the ceiling. Was it just my imagination that Jacob and the wolf had the same eyes? Another detail came back to me. I had not seen Quil, Leah, and Sam in the mob of students as I was loaded onto the stretcher. I thought about where they might go, and laughed at the possibility that they had also become wolves. Maybe hitting my head jumbled my thoughts…I leaned back, trying to focus on my last thoughts.

A soft knock sounded, and a too familiar voice rang out throughout the room. "Bella? Are you awake?"

My eyes flew open, and I saw Jacob Black leaning against the white door frame. I didn't mean to ogle, but he was wearing a completely different outfit. His brown t-shirt and black jacket had been swapped for striped button-up shirt and his worn black jeans had been changed into sweatpants that were a few sizes too big for him. His hair was windblown and in front of his eyes, and he was wearing a small shoulder brace.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly, perching his large frame onto the plastic chair next to my bed.

"There's nothing wrong with me, but they still insist on strapping me down." I glanced at his brace. "What happened to you?"

"Tripped up the stairs a week ago," he replied without missing a beat. He looked away when he said this, possibly because he knew that I could tell that he was lying. He had worn short sleeves for my entire stay at Forks, and now he was claiming to be injured. "It should be coming off soon. And don't worry; I've got your prison escape…"

The door opened again, and a doctor walked into the room. My mouth dropped open with surprise. Blonde, young, and incredibly handsome with pale skin and gold-tinted eyes, I heard Jacob chuckle as I finally turned away from him.

"Miss Swan, I presume," the man said. I nodded and he extended his hand. I touched it and found it cold, almost like a statue. "My name is Doctor Cullen and…"

"Oh my God, _you're_ Dr. Cullen? Charlie –Dad– said you worked in the hospital, but I never thought…He likes you guys a lot!"

Dr. Cullen laughed, taking out his stethoscope. "I can say the same here. Charlie always manages to share one fact about you...How do you feel? Jacob" –was it just me or did Dr. Cullen glare at Jacob from the corner of his eye– "said that you ducked pretty fast under that car."

"Jacob…was there?" I shot him a scowl, but he was looking out the window.

"Why, yes. When you were being loaded into the ambulance, Jacob rode ahead in Tyler's car and told me of your coming." He sounded confident, but his facial expression didn't match his tone. He examined his clipboard, and then smiled. "I don't think you have to stay any longer. Give Charlie my regards…" He went to the sink to wash his hands.

While he was doing this, I hopped out of the hospital bed and pulled Jacob's sleeve. He turned away from the window, and blinked innocently at me. "Yes? Do you need a chaperone to go down the hall?"

"No, you promised you'd speak with me…Remember?"

He shook his head. "Bella, I think you've been mistaken. Now go on; your dad's waiting for you."

"But you promised…" I said in a half whine, pulling on his sleeve again.

"Fine," he snapped, causing me to jump back. His face was cold, and he narrowed his eyes. "Wait for me outside then…I'll be with you shortly…"

I exited the room, leaning against the wall next to the door. Dr. Cullen and Jacob were talking in harsh whispers, tones that were too low and fast for me to hear. I focused all of my energy through the wall, and I managed to finally hear bits and pieces of the conversation. Jacob's voice was clearer somehow, although I wasn't exactly sure.

"Jacob, we…agreement. You…not allowed…our land without permission. This hospital…our treaty."

"Dr. Cullen, I had to come. I need to explain to her why I did what I did…"

"Have you…Sam?"

"No, but…"

"He'll kill you, Jacob…Now; go clean up your mess."

"Gotcha," he replied, his tone suddenly cheerful. "Say hi to Edward for me." His voice in that sentence was slightly sarcastic, and I wondered why.

I hurried down the hall, a small walking distance but far enough to avoid suspicion of eavesdropping. Jacob emerged from the room, turning to me. He walked quickly towards me, stopping just a short distance away.

"What is it, Bella?" he asked, annoyed and unhappy.

"You said you would tell me…You owe me big time."

He snorted. "How do I do that? I was with the other students when the van crashed."

"You…you promised!" I insisted again, my temper rising with every word spoken.

"Bella," he said, his tone sharp, "You hit your head when you dived under the car. You don't know who you last spoke to, but believe me, it's not me."

"Nothings wrong with me. You heard the doctor," I replied angrily. "I know you did something. All I want is the truth."

He grimaced, but kept his composure. "What do _you_ think happened then, oh wise one?" he demanded. His words hit a switch in my brain, and my explanation came out in a jumble.

"You were next to your motorcycle when the car was rounding the corner…Dr. Cullen claims you were in the back of the crowd of students, but I didn't see you or any of your buddies when I was being loaded into the ambulance…Your eyes look like the dog who saved me…And the dog stuck out his shoulder and stop the car from crushing us both, which must of hurt…You're wearing an shoulder brace in the exact same spot where the wolf hurt himself…" I sounded like a lunatic, and tears welled up in my eyes.

He closed his eyes, leaning against the wall opposite of mine. "You think I transformed into a wolf-dog and pushed the van off you…?"

I nodded slowly, my jaw tight.

"No one's going to believe that," he said matter-of-factly.

"Why would I tell anybody?" I asked.

My question caught him off guard, and he raised an eyebrow. "Then why does it matter if I tell you or not?"

"I don't like lies or liars, and quite frankly I doubt anyone's going to settle with the 'Bella the Crash Expert' excuse. Have you seen me walk before?"

He was silent. "In that case," he scowled, "I hope you enjoy disappointment."

The hall was stiff with awkwardness as we stood a few inches away from each other, forcing our faces to be close and our eyes to make contact. His poker face was ten times better than mine was, and he knew it. It was like being face to face with a statue; an angry statue now that I thought about it.

"Why did you do it?" I asked bluntly.

His eyes grew troubled, and he pulled away. "I don't know," he mumbled, twisting himself around to walk away.


	6. Invitation & Dissection

Alas, return of the once postponed story :)  
Okay, before you start reviewing or reading with a grudge towards me, hear me out: Yes, it's been a while since I last updated, but for a good reason. I didn't think the story had much of a future (ha, Alice reference) even with my new villains, and Writer's Block was threatening to invade my mind and ruin my other fanfics that I had coming along, so I was going to delete the story, but never got the chance to.  
But then, after reading some very inspirational fanfics on Bella/Jacob and a lot of stories with mixed up roles, I was inspired to write three new chapters for the story. Besides, if this story has no future, I can just wrap it up instead of deleting it.  
So that's why it's been two months since an update :). Thanks to those of you who PMed me to wake me up, and for those who are still reading. I appreciate it. Enjoy a super long, very original, chapter :D

~Geneth

PS Some of you suggested that I make Jacob more unique and not so "Edwardian", so I made him more playful and calmer for this particular chain of events.

* * *

One week later, I found myself still the center of attention and the target of the spring dance. All of the boys from the Welcoming Committee had plans to take me out to the dance and were bothering me about it, despite the fact that it was girl's choice. With nothing to think of off the top of my mind, I began to respond with simple answers like, "I'm going to be in Seattle," and, "Isn't it girl's choice?" that magically shut them up.

Jacob Black hadn't spoke to me since our icy encounter a few weeks before. Clearly, his coldness hadn't been his normal behavior, and I saw him laughing and talking with his fellow Quileute friends during the day. Once or twice, our eyes met and, for a moment, his eyes were ever so apologetic, but then he turned away.

He only began talking to me shortly after Mike Newton asked me to the dance, and it was as the bell rang for Biology. I was gathering my things into my bag, when I heard his voice.

"Bella?"

I considered ignoring him for a moment, but something in his tone caused me to slowly turn around. "Yes, Jacob? Are you speaking to me again?" I said formally, a note of acidity in my voice.

His expression was calm, his eyes slightly taken by my response. The corners of his mouth twitched. "I just want to say I'm sorry, Bella. For being rude to you after your accident. But…I really think we shouldn't be...friends. For now at least."

The overused line stung, and I bit my lip to prevent anything from spilling out. I wanted to retort something back at him, but instead attempted a dramatic exit through the door. Unfortunately, my shoe caught the doorjamb, and I began to fall forward.

Jacob was fast, already by the door and pulling my left arm up with one hand. He picked up my books as I brushed myself off, along with the touch of his still hot skin from my wrist. "Thanks," I said, striving for an icy tone but coming up dry with a strangely grateful voice.

He smiled thinly. "You're welcome. See you later, Bella."

The next day, I was fumbling with the lock on my truck, my mind elsewhere. I had talked with Charlie about heading out of town for the week of the spring dance, and he understood, insisting I at least try to make it back for the dance. He had also announced that we were going to visit the Cullens the day after tomorrow, and if I wanted, I could bring a friend. "The Cullens children are home schooled, so they don't have many friends," he explained, "Maybe a few new faces might trigger something."

The door suddenly locked, but the key somehow slipped through my fingers like butter, landing in the puddle just under my truck. As I reached down for it, it was suddenly dangling in front of my face. Jacob was leaning on the cab of my truck, the silver key shining in his dark palm.

"Hi, Bella," he said, his mood cheerful. He twirled the key around his pointer finger, and slid it carefully off, handing it to me with a smile.

"Hey…Jacob." His mood was awkwardly infectious, and I managed a toothless smile back before turning around and heading toward my first period.

He didn't get my hint, keeping stride with me. "Can I ask you something, Bella? It'll only take a few moments…"

"Um, sure." His change of personality from the time at the hospital, and even yesterday, was massive and it caught me off guard.

"I was thinking, on the day of the spring dance, if you wanted to…"

"Wait, what?!" I stopped dead in my tracks, turning slowly towards his towering figure. "Are you…are you trying…What the hell are you doing?!"

He smirked, my exclamation not denting his armor. "Can I finish my sentence, please?" I crossed my arms, glaring at him. "Thank you. I heard from some of the boys that you're going to Seattle on that Saturday, and I was wondering if you wanted to get a ride."

My mouth dropped open, and I just gaped at Jacob Black for several moments before I remembered how to speak. "With…Wait, what?"

"Well, it's my dad's birthday the day after that and I need to get him a gift. I'm such a procrastinator, and Seattle has great stuff that I can get him, like a watch or tie or one of those "I LOVE MY DAD! HE'S NUMBER ONE" mugs and…"

I put my finger to his lips, and he lapsed into silence. "So…you're asking me if you can drive me to Seattle? I thought you said we shouldn't be friends."

"I didn't say we couldn't be buds. Buds is way different from friends." He winked towards me, and I rolled my eyes, still waiting for a true explanation. "Fine, if it makes you happy, I'm…I want us to be friends, but…I still want you to keep your distance. Does that make sense?" His brown eyes met mine intently, and I found it quite hard to exhale. He tilted his head slightly. "So, will you come with me to Seattle?"

I nodded, my voice caught in my throat. If I had spoken, it would've come out in a croak or something more embarrassing. He grinned. "That's great, Bella." His arms twitched, as if he wanted to give me a big bear hug but was resisting. Instead, he patted my arm, and the sensation sent ripples up my arm. And, without another word, he turned away and walked off towards the direction of the other buildings.

I was late for class, thanks to Jacob and the numbness that I felt that caused me to just stand under the shelter of the cafeteria roof for several minutes before moving. My mind was in another dimension as I moved quietly with the herd of students. Jessica linked arms with me, chatting away about upcoming plans of a group date to the dance. She of course absently asked me along, but didn't much care for my response.

Jacob wasn't sitting with his normal tablemates, and disappointment fogged my mind as I went to get lunch. I didn't feel up for macaroni or pizza today, so I settled for a simple bottle of lemonade and followed Jessica to the overly populated table that I now normally sat at. After normal chatter, Jessica looked up and giggled. "Jacob Black is staring right at you."

I looked up immediately, and I followed her gaze towards the other side of the room. Jacob was exiting the line for food, and his gaze caught mine. His eyes were friendly, peaceful somehow, and he walked with quick steps towards the table. He stopped in front of me, and all of the Welcoming Committee looked up towards him.

"Hello," he said smoothly, "Do you mind if I borrow Bella for lunch?"

Mike and some of the other boys opened their mouths to object, but Jessica had other plans. "Not at all!" she replied quickly, handing me my lemonade bottle and bag. Her eyes practically shouted at me a mental message. _You will tell me everything!_

Jacob didn't want to sit inside, and we headed out into the cloudy day, sitting at a picnic table. The others surrounding us were nearly empty, students only working here under the shade of umbrellas to study or catch up on homework. He opened his drink with a quick click of his hand, unwrapped his fork, and was digging into his food as I watched him.

"This is…new," I commented, fascinated at his quick chewing and jaw structure.

"Well, yeah. Since we're buds now, we can eat together…right?" He looked up from his food, and I nodded slowly. "Besides, I can't seem to stay away from you, and I decided that I should just let this jumbled mess of a puzzle fall into place. Who knows; the pieces might fit."

"I'm…confused," I said dumbly.

"I say too much when I talk to you," he mused, stuffing another large forkful of food into his mouth. He swallowed, suddenly distracted. "Aren't you hungry?" he asked, offering me the packet of chips off the corner of his tray.

"No," I replied, "I'm alright. How's your appetite?"

"Average," he replied through another mouthful. His plate was suddenly bare, and I blinked to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. He carefully opened his bag of chips, munching away. If this was average, then I was a sparkly vampire. He finally finished, and he looked at my skeptical face. A hint of a simper appeared on his face. "I told you. You ought to keep your distance."

"Oh, is that right?" I said, his infectious mood affecting my thoughts and words. "I don't think I need to."

"Really?" He seemed genuinely surprised.

"Yes. You're dangerous…but you're not a villain or a bad person. I…I will never believe that you're some sort of monster."

His face grew serious, all playfulness lost in my words. For a moment, he softened. "You're wrong, Bella." He picked up his spotless tray, throwing it out in the nearby wastebasket at the end of the table. My carelessness had caused the silence that surrounded us, and I wondered what I had said that made him so quiet again. Oh, right, the wolf thing. But it wasn't as if I had meant it when I said it. I had thought we were just teasing one another…

The silence reminded me of the normally crowded cafeteria, and I looked up at the other picnic tables. All were bare, except for a snoozing boy with his head face down into his geometry textbook. The window to the cafeteria showed that only a few students were in the room, Jacob's Quileute friends included.

"Damn it," I muttered, getting up from the table. "We're…we're going to be late if we don't move." I started to head towards the door, expecting him to rush to my side like this morning.

"I'm not going to Biology today," he called after me, and I turned back towards him.

"Why not?" I demanded. There was no way I was going to endure a period of Biology, knowing that he was here but ditching class.

"It's only reasonable to ditch every now and then. Besides, I know most of the stuff that Mr. Banner teaches. Would you mind telling him that I…I had to take a makeup test or something?"

"Fine," I snapped, opening the door of cafeteria. And as I entered the building, I swear I heard him chuckle.

I entered the Biology lab, and all of the Welcoming Committees' eyes were on me. I flushed red and took my seat towards the back. As I looked around the room, I noticed that Leah and Quil hadn't come to class as well. Strange, it was as if all of the Quileutes decided not to come to this particular class.

Mr. Banner entered the room with a few large boxes in his hands, followed by two janitors who were bulky, but never as bulky as the Quileute boys were. He placed them on the floor, thanked the janitors, and then turned towards the class.

"Afternoon guys. Today we're going to be practicing our memorization of the vital organs by…" He reached into one of the large box and pulled out what appeared to be a stretched pink glove with ears and legs. "…Dissecting a fetal pig!"

Immediately, I felt my pitiful lunch of lemonade come rushing up my throat. I clutched my stomach and placed my hand over my mouth. The other kids were oohing and ahhing, all giggling in excitement. Mr. Banner took out a piece of wax paper, and placed both the paper and the pig onto Mike Newton's table.

"You're going to cut along from the head to the end, and then identify with your partners all of the organs you see. I'm going to put some other ones on the board, and if you can find those specific bonus ones, you'll get some extra points towards the end of the marking period." He scanned the room. "Since Mr. Ateara and Miss Clearwater aren't here today, I want their partners to pair up." He didn't even notice me, partly because I had placed my head onto the table. The tabletop was cool, and it soothed the never-ending pain in my stomach and the ringing in my ears.

My peers were giggling as the sound of the scalpel cutting through the poor pig's flesh sounded. It only made my stomach hurt more. Mr. Banner approached my table, seeing me at last. He sounded alarmed.

"Bella, are you okay?"

"I…I know where most of the organs are…I'm a vegetarian…"

"Can someone take Bella to the nurse please?" Mr. Banner called out.

Mike Newton volunteered –no surprise there– and he half carried me towards the building with the nurse's office. I stopped at the curb of the cafeteria. I was breathing heavily as I whimpered, "Mike…Mike, can we stop here for a second? I…I…" I sat and leaned my head against the lamppost. Mike tried to get me to move, but I drowned him out by focusing on one of the noises that kept blasting in my eardrums.

"Bella? Oh my God, what happened?" A familiar voice sounded above the other noises, and I inwardly groaned.

"I think she fainted," Mike replied, his voice slightly steamed. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that I had eaten lunch with Jacob only ten minutes ago.

"Bella? Are you okay?" I opened my eyes and saw Jacob's face only a few inches away from mine. He was squatting, and he smiled when I opened my eyes.

"Go away…" I mumbled, closing my lids again.

He snickered, and then turned to Mike. "I'm going to take her to the nurse. You can go back to class." Before Mike could even say another word, I felt the sidewalk and the lamppost disappear from under and around me. Jacob had slung me easily onto his shoulder, like something out of a Shrek movie, and was already speed walking towards the building.

"Oh my G…Put me down!" My lunch was going to come up, and I didn't want to vomit all over his faded hoodie.

"So, you don't like dissecting things?" The smile in his voice was apparent, and his gentle steps somehow soothed me. I bit my lip, squeezing my eyes shut so I wouldn't have to see the sidewalk moving past me so quickly.

"It's okay. I get a bit queasy too," he added, his voice pleasant as he carefully opened the door with his spare hand. Ignoring the secretary's cry of alarm, he opened the door to the nurse's office and hoisted me gently onto the cot. The nurse rushed out of the room to fetch me a compress for my head, and I forced my heavy eyes open to look at Jacob, who was now whistling to himself as he rocked back and forth on the wall.

"You scared me before," he said absently. "Looked like Mike was going to drag you off to the dark alleyway and assault you."

"Hilarious," I replied dryly. "And what were you doing?"

"Taking my 'makeup exam'," he chuckled. When I glared at him, he shrugged. "I was hanging out with Quil and Leah in Leah's car. We were watching a movie on her car's TV." The response was so normal; I don't know why I was expecting something out of the ordinary.

The nurse returned with an ice pack wrapped in paper towels. She handed it to me, commenting on my mood change.

"I'm fine," I started to say, but the receptionist stuck her head into the room, announcing the arrival of another student. I handed the nurse the compress and climbed off the cot. Jacob followed me out, his whistling turned to melodic humming.

As we exited the buildings, the bell rang, reminding me of my next period. "Gym," I groaned. Jacob raised a heavy brow, and then laughed quietly.

"I can get you out of that," he offered.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Just sit down and…look pale or faint or something."

I reentered the office, making myself small and tired as I sat down on one of old folding chairs. I half-closed my eyes, watching Jacob smoothly maneuver towards the receptionist's desk. He seemed taller, full of authority.

"Ms. Cope?" he said softly, his husky voice echoing throughout the office.

"Yes, Jacob?" She sounded overwhelmed.

"Bella has Gym next period, and she doesn't seem well enough for it. I was thinking…perhaps I should take her home now. Would you mind calling Coach Clapp and asking him to excuse Bella for now? We don't want her to come back here with stomach pains, do we?" His voice was so soothing, more like a therapist than a student, and the cock of his head made him seem innocent and eager to please.

"O-of course," she replied, cheeks turning slightly red. "I'll tell him. Feel better, Bella," she called out and I nodded, rising slowly for effect. "Do you want me to excuse you as well, Jacob?"

"No, it's all right. I have Mr. Mason next period, and he has a sub." He thanked her again before following me outside. We walked in silence for a moment, and I started to head towards my truck. How good it would feel to inhale the scent and just sit there, waiting for the heater to activate. But as I veered towards it, ready to pull my keys out of my pocket, I felt something catch my wrist. My whole arm warmed with the touch.

"Where are you going, Bella? My motorcycle's over there."

"Motorcycle?" I repeated in disbelief. "I'm going home in my truck."

"But I promised Ms. Cope that I'd take you home safely. And I'm not one to lie, so I think we should follow through." He began yanking me towards his sleek black bike and, despite my best efforts, I couldn't pull out of his grip. He slipped onto the motorcycle, pulling on a helmet over his long hair. He wordlessly handed me a spare helmet, and I could only imagine how unsanitary it was.

"Are you crazy?" I demanded. "What about my truck?"

"Bella," he sighed, "Do you want to get back safely or not? I'll get Leah to drop you car of later. Besides, your car's going to reek of throw up if you drive it home."

"You're going to reek of throw up if you drive me home," I mumbled under my breath, but I reluctantly climbed onto the motorcycle. My legs on ether side of the bike, I suddenly realized that I was going to have to wrap my arms around Jacob's waist. Afraid for my bag, I slid it onto my back, making sure it was zipped shut. Hesitantly, I instead wrapped my arms around his neck, as if he was giving me a piggyback ride that Charlie used to give me when I was three.

He chuckled, and then revved the engine. I slammed my eyes shut, and waited for us to go. I felt the motorcycle rock back and forth every now and then, but I wasn't exactly sure if we were moving. Jacob didn't speak, just sat there. Finally, he spoke. "Um, Bella? We're here."

"Huh?" I opened my eyes and saw that we were indeed in front of Charlie's house. "But…What…How?"

"It's one of those motorcycles that you don't even feel like you're moving," he explained, but I could hear the snicker in his voice.

I pulled off the helmet, and handed it to him. "Thanks for the ride, Jacob," I said, feeling a smile threatening to break through. Looking at Charlie's place reminded me of something, and I turned back to Jacob. "Hey, are you doing anything the day after tomorrow?"

He thought for a moment. "Maybe. Why?"

"Well, my dad and I are heading up to the Cullens' house. They're home schooled, and my dad wants me to help them make some friends. He said I could invite people so…Do you want to come?"

"The Cullen house?" he repeated. "I really don't think I was invited…"

"Well, I just invited you," I replied, "And besides, you're my friend and if I try, you can make buddies with the Cullens. Dr. Cullen recognized you at the hospital…"

"I'll think about it," he replied. "I think Quil and Embry are planning a cross-Forks adventure, but I'm not sure. I'll see you later than," he smiled again. As I headed up towards the house, he yelled towards me, "Be safe, Bella. The Cullens are more dangerous then you think."

"I'm sure," I called back, running from the rain under the cover of the front porch. I heard him snicker, and then the motorcycle disappeared without a noise.

* * *

Reviews appreicated. No flames, just "constructive criticism".


	7. Scary Stories

Hey guys! Enjoy one of the longest Twilight chapters yet! :P  
By the way, if you get confused at any point in the fanfic, I answered some questions you might have at the bottom of the page.

~Geneth

* * *

Charlie was extremely excited about us going to see the Cullens, and he went on and on about them during dinner. "They have five kids, but I think you'll like Edward the most…They're all adopted from different families, so don't freak out when you see Rosalie with Emmett or Alice with Jasper…" It came down to a point where I wanted to tell my father, my own father, to shut his trap and talk about something else.

So, on that Saturday, I came home to find my father out of his uniform and dressed in dark jeans and a button-up shirt. He was idling in front of the television, and when I shut the door, he jumped up and peeked into the hallway.

"Oh good, Bella, you're home."

"Yeah, hi Dad."

The television clicked off, and he came out, shrugging on a leather jacket off one of the pegs on the wall. "Just leave your bags in the kitchen; we don't want to be late."

I nodded with false enthusiasm, dropping my bag on one of the kitchen chairs. Charlie really liked this family, and Dr. Cullen had been quite sensible during my hospital stay, but the thing that worried me was that Jacob wasn't here. He hadn't promised that he would come, but a part of me hoped he would pull up in his motorcycle and come with us to the unknown part of town.

"Did you invite any of your school friends to come with us?" Charlie asked as I returned.

"Um…" I checked my watch. The time confirmed that Jacob wouldn't be joining us this evening. "No, none of them could make it."

"Oh," Charlie said, disappointed, but his enthusiasm returned as he practically skipped out the door. Shaking my head, I slowly followed him, locking the door soundlessly behind me. My father was in my Ram already, waiting for me to climb into the passenger's side and hand him my keys.

"Why aren't we taking the cruiser?" I asked as I slipped into the seat.

"Emmett Cullen offered to fix the suspension of the wheels; you were complaining about that last week…"

I raised an eyebrow. I had merely mentioned that the wheels were a little off. Maybe Charlie just like having the car fixed for free. Nevertheless, before I could confirm this, Charlie started the truck and backed out of the highway. As we drove, I turned on the radio to avoid the awkward chatter that had occurred when I first arrived here.

We finally came towards the Calawah River, and Charlie drove smoothly over the narrow bridge, following the winding road northwards. The houses around us slowly began to disappear and, eventually, he turned the car onto an unpaved road. It wasn't long until we were completely surrounded by plush forest, and I bit my lip nervously, watching the road twist and turn like a snake.

"Ch…Dad, are you sure you know where you're driving?"

"Course I do!" he replied. "I've been there so many times, I could drive with my eyes closed! But, that'd be dangerous and against the laws, so I won't…"

Suddenly, the forest cleared, and we were driving in a small meadow –or a front lawn– of a large, majestic house. Tall and gorgeous, the house was painted white and looked old, but in a beautifully restored condition. Charlie drove the car towards a slightly hidden garage, and he didn't even have to honk; the door automatically opened for him.

As we drove in, and Charlie killed the engine, I noticed a small pale girl, maybe my age but extremely thin and small, closing the door by pushing a shiny button on a panel attached to the wall. Charlie climbed out of the Ram, and the girl walked –or rather, danced– over to us. Her hair was ink black, and stuck in different spiky directions. Her clothes were expensive, and a peculiar pendant on a black ribbon was around her neck.

"Hi, Charlie!" she said cheerfully in a high soprano voice.

Charlie beamed back. "Hello, Alice! How have you been?"

"Pretty good," she replied. "Carlisle and Esme are making _Italiano_, tonight."

"Really?" enthused Charlie. "That's my favorite!"

I climbed carefully out of the car, walking to stand next to Charlie as quietly as I could. Alice continued her bubbly conversation with Charlie for a moment, and then turned to me with smiling, abnormal golden eyes.

"You must be Bella," she grinned, suddenly embracing me in a hug. She was about half a head shorter than I was, and the hug was around my waist. Her skin was shockingly cold, however, and Alice pulled back almost immediately, examined me with a curious expression. "Charlie told us all about you, but he didn't say you had a…interesting sense of fashion."

I laughed nervously. I was wearing jeans and a sweater, and she considered this interesting? Well, go figure; she was the one in a knee-length, light gray halter dress and black knit sweater.

"Oh well; you're staying here for a while, so maybe I can give you some pointers!" she said brightly, grabbing my arm and Charlie's arm, and pulling us towards a door that led into the house.

As we entered, I instantly took in the breathtaking insides of the house. With one wall made entirely of glass, the view was spectacular. The backyard led into a small wood area with a river. A curving staircase led to the second floor, and everything everywhere was various shades of startling white.

Two boys were sitting just on the bottom step of the staircase, playing a quiet game of chess. Both looked up innocently as Alice dropped our arms and shut the door behind us. I felt my face flush red, but not because of embarrassment, but because both boys were insanely handsome. The older looking one was muscular and lean, and had curls of honey blond hair to match his golden eyes. The younger one was more attractive than his brother, with hair the color of bronze and body structure of an Abercrombie and Fitch model. He smiled a crooked smile.

"Alice, what did Esme tell you about harassing our guests?" he asked in a melodic voice, his eyes teasing.

"I didn't harass them," Alice replied without missing a beat, "I was just introducing myself. By the way, Bella, that's Edward and Jasper."

"Nice to meet you," I said, smiling shyly as Edward and Jasper rose. I felt a soothing feeling surrounding me (I'm not sure how to describe it), but I felt completely relaxed and calm, as if I had known these people all my life. Alice danced towards Jasper, and he put his hand on her shoulder as she leaned against him. Charlie had mentioned that the two of them were together, but it still shocked me that they were adoptive siblings yet dating.

Edward held out his hand and I hesitantly shook it. It was just as cold as Alice's stony palm, and I shivered from the sensation. He smiled, bending low to brush his lips on the back of my hand. He raised his eyes attractively from beneath thick lashes, and the corner of his lips twitched.

"I apologize for the…coldness of our skin," he said in a mock-formal voice, "Carlisle and Esme don't believe in…heaters."

I laughed. "Really? It must get chilly here during the winter."

"It's okay," he shrugged. "We're used to it; they've made us into cold-blooded reptiles." On cue, Alice and Edward flicked their tongues out like lizards.

"Friendly reptiles who are respectful of guests and actually invite them into the living room," added another voice from the hall near the stairs. I turned and saw that a woman with caramel-colored hair and a sweet, heart-shaped face was standing by the door, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. She was just as pretty as her foster children were and looked like something out of a fairytale.

"Hello Charlie, Bella," she said, smiling warmly. "Why don't you come into the living room? Dinner will be ready soon…I think Emmett's watching the basketball game."

"Really?" Charlie asked brightly. "Oh good, I wanted to check up on the score." He zoomed off, following Jasper and Alice down the hall. Edward chuckled, and we both walked slowly after them.

"So, how long have you been in town?" Edward asked.

"Long enough for it to drive me insane," I laughed lightly.

"Forks isn't that bad," he replied as we turned the corner and started towards a large room where flickering lights signaled that everyone was there. "It has its…charms."

"Easy for you to say," I mumbled. "You don't go to school…"

"Home-school isn't exactly the greatest thing on earth, too. Do you know we have just as much 'fun' with science here because Carlisle's a doctor?" I opened my mouth to reply, but Edward continued. "And, Esme doesn't let us lack on anything, so she teaches us math while she does the latest thing for her book club."

I laughed, and we entered the living room, a large area that looked about the size of Charlie's entire first floor. A gigantic flat screen was on one wall, and several white leather chairs were scattered in front of it. Alice and Jasper had settled together on a loveseat, and Charlie was relaxing on a recliner. Two new family members were settled on one side of the couch, and they looked up from the screen as they entered. The male was probably the oldest of all the Cullen children, and was incredibly muscular and tall. The female, however, was so beautiful, so intimidating to look at, that it hurt to look at her. I felt my self-esteem lower slightly, but I forced myself to smile politely towards them.

"That's Emmett and Rosalie," introduced Edward, squeezing my shoulder to comfort me.

"Hey Charlie, so that's your daughter?" Emmett asked, nudging Charlie, who was so engrossed with the game that he just nodded absently in response. Emmett grinned mischievously, and then wolf-whistled. "She's hot," he said, stressing the "t" in the word.

My cheeks flushed, and Rosalie elbowed him. "Be nice," she instructed before turning to me. "Ignore him; just a little flirty because his team's winning. As soon as they start to loose by a few points, he'll start calling you ugly." She motioned for us to join them around the television.

I've never been a fan of basketball, or any sport really, so I stood awkwardly for a moment before I realized that Edward had settled at the white marble piano that was in the large space behind the couches. It was on a raised platform, and looked like one of those grand pianos only the rich and famous have.

I sat down quietly next to Edward, and saw that he already had out a music notebook and a pencil out on the stand. The paper was covered with notes and eraser marks, and Edward hummed to himself the melody before furrowing his brow.

"I can't get this tune out," he groaned. "I've been playing the same thing over and over again for five days."

"Well, I'm not musically talented, but maybe I can help," I offered. "Can I hear what you got so far?"

"Sure." Edward adjusted his hands on the piano, and then began to play the sweetest melody that I have ever heard. In fact, something inside of me refused to believe that he had written it; it sounded like an undiscovered composition by Mozart or Bach.

Then, abruptly, Edward stopped playing. "See? It sounds okay so far, but I don't know how to continue it…"

I felt the soothing feeling come over me again, but this time it felt more like…confidence. I pointed towards his work. "Maybe if you replayed the second measure, but added a little more dynamics. You can change the ending of the phrasing, and then repeat it again using different notes."

He looked at me curiously. "What do you mean?"

I reached over, small memories of forgotten piano lessons creeping back to my brain. I only played the right hand melody, and repeated the first part before randomizing the notes. Edward nodded intently as I played, and then his eyes lit up. I pulled my hands away, and he reached over, scratching notes onto the paper without experimenting with them.

He flipped onto another piece of notebook paper, and I sat with wide eyes as his pencil moved vigorously across the paper. Finally, he stopped but not before he filled out front and back of two pages. "Tell me how this sounds…"

Edward started to play again the melody, and finally came to the part where he had been stuck. However, this time he went into his two pages of new music. My mouth dropped as his fingers ran quickly across the keys, as if he had known the song even before he threw in the new parts. Just as he hit the ending notes, Esme entered the living room and shut off the television. Charlie and Emmett both opened their mouths to protest.

"You can catch the score later," Esme said gently but sternly. "Come on; we don't want the food to get cold." Everyone followed her out of the room, and Edward was already on his feet. He held his hand out.

"Thank you," I said quietly as he helped me up from the bench.

"No," he replied with another crooked smile, "Thank you."

Dinner was delicious, and I found myself scraping the bottom of my plate for any last morsel of the _Goulash_ or the _Pizzoccheri_. It wasn't hard to believe that the food was hand-made by Esme and Dr. Cullen's watchful eyes, but it was hard for me to understand how they had made food for nine in a little more than an hour.

The table was full of discussion. Charlie and Emmett were arguing with Jasper and Dr. Cullen over which team they thought would win the basketball game, and Esme was refereeing, trying to calm them all down. Alice and Rosalie were in deep conversation about an upcoming shopping trip to Olympia and, from the sounds of it, I had a feeling that they were going to max out their credit cards.

In the mean time, I chatted with Edward. He wanted how the truck was for me, and I truthfully answered that it was holding up nicely. After a few words about that, I brought back up the subject of his music and it really got the wheels turning for him. Edward described several more pieces he had made, and hummed out the beginning melodies. I had to admit that I was impressed.

Jasper distracted Edward for a moment to get his opinion on the argument, and I turned back to get a sip of my water when I saw something that surprised me. As Rosalie and Alice were talking, Rosalie reached over and picked up a forkful of the _Pizzoccheri_. She brought it to her lips, which hadn't even opened to take in the bite, and then promptly dropped it onto her lap. Her jaw chewed air for a second, and then she resumed conversation.

My eyes were wide. Why was Rosalie pretending to eat? Was she hiding something from Esme and Dr. Cullen? I curiously watched Emmett eat, and saw that he was eating some of the _Goulash_. He picked up a spoonful and opened his mouth as if he was going to swallow it but, when Charlie was focused on something else, he threw it into the potted plant next to him. Edward suddenly claimed my attention again, and I found myself forgetting what I saw.

We all pitched in when dinner was done, and all of the Cullen children were loading the dishwasher, so I helped. As soon as we had shut it, Emmett ran off towards the living room. A few seconds passed, and then a groan came from the living room that could've raised the dead. Esme wanted to watch some sort of drama that was on, and Dr. Cullen grudgingly agreed that Emmett had hogged the television for enough. Charlie had apparently watched the sitcom before, and Esme was explaining the new plot to him.

"Maybe I can catch it on the radio!" Emmett proclaimed as he ran up the stairs towards his room.

I didn't exactly feel up to gathering around a radio to listen to basketball stats and, judging by the way Alice was maneuvering herself towards me, I was going to get an unwanted makeover sometime soon. Edward saw her approaching, and he grabbed my elbow.

"How about I show you my room?" he asked quickly. I bobbed my head up and down, and he whisked me off up the stairs.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" Alice called after us, but Edward continued to pull me towards the last door in the hallway. As soon as we entered the room, he shut the door quickly behind us.

Edward's room had a spectacular overview of the backyard, two glass doors revealing an inviting balcony outside. Another wall was dedicated to a large collection of music, and a sophisticated stereo system that looked too pretty and futuristic to exist. A black leather couch and a small coffee table were neatly brushed to the side, a single marigold in the tiny vase.

"No bed?" I asked, examining the room thoroughly.

"Yeah," he grinned, "It gets really cold up here during the winter, so I sleep in one of the guest rooms we have on the ground floor. When it's warm, Carlisle and Emmett bring my real bed up, and I put away the sofa and coffee table away."

I examined his collection of music, and noticed a framed picture resting in between two of his speakers. Edward was sitting in some sort of gazebo, looking incredibly sexy in a short-sleeved polo and jeans, next to non other than Jacob Black, dressed in similar attire. Both were forcefully smiling, and I turned back to Edward, who had turned on his stereo and was playing a soft acoustic song.

"You know Jacob Black?"

"We've been thrown together a lot recently," he replied. "Carlisle has to work with his father for a…a business thing, and I'm always the one in charge of keeping him entertained while our fathers battle it out." He rolled his eyes playfully. "Why, do _you_ know him?"

"Kind of," I mumbled, feigning interest in an old R&B CD.

Edward smiled his stunning crooked smile, and then nudged me with his shoulder. "Well? Do you know him or not?"

"He goes to the same school as I do," I replied, stating the obvious, "And we hung out a few times. I forgot he knew your dad, so I invited him to drive up here with Charlie and me."

He stiffened slightly. "Jacob…Jacob's not allowed to come here."

I peered up at him. "Wait, what? Jacob's not allowed to come to your room?"

"To my family's house and land," he corrected quietly.

"I'm confused…Why are they not allowed up here?"

Half of Edward's smile crept back onto his lips. "Um, well…I'm not really supposed to tell you, Bella. Carlisle has strict precautions on what I'm allowed to say about our…family history."

This made me want to know even more. If Edward was adopted, what sort of family history with his foster father could he possibly have? "It's not like I'm going to go running to the town newspaper and demand that the story get published. I'm just curious."

We listened to the song end, and an upbeat jazz number began to play. Edward sighed, and then gestured me towards his inviting leather couch. I quickly made my way there, and sat obediently. Edward sat across from me.

"Carlisle Cullen, my foster father, has known me for a long time. My…father and Carlisle go back to before I was…born, so when they died, he adopted me with Esme." He paused, lowering the music so that it was mere background noise. "During their prime, Carlisle and my…father had decided to settle in a house close to Forks, somewhere in Washington. Apparently, the house was on land that belonged to the Quileutes, and they thought my…father and Carlisle were immortal beings who had returned to ruin them, vampires or something like that."

"Vampires?" I was so intrigued that I leaned forward, my knee touching Edward's.

He shrugged. "And, according to Carlisle's years of research, there is an enemy of vampires, a being that hisses at the very sound of the mention of Dracula, and all Quileutes are descendants of these creatures, which is why they wanted to kick Carlisle off their land in fear that he might be that creature."

"What sort of creature?"

"Werewolves." The very word caused me to catch my breath and pull back. Edward continued, his eyes haunting. "My…father and Carlisle decided to play along with the Quileutes' superstition, so they offered to make a treaty with them. If they the 'vampires' stayed off their reservation, they would have to, in turn, stay off our land."

He glanced at me, and laughed when he saw that I was slightly shivering. "So you see," he chuckled, "It's not that we don't want them on our land. The Quileutes are too superstitious that we might be bloodsuckers that they wouldn't put a toe over the treaty line if we paid them." Edward reached under the coffee table and offered me a blanket.

"No thanks," I grinned. "You're just a really good storyteller."

"Just don't tell Carlisle or Jacob that I said anything. Carlisle would freak and Jacob would tell his parents, and God knows what would happen then."

I nodded, and the door burst open suddenly. Alice came in, hands on her hips. Her lips, coated in a dark shade of lipstick, were in full pout. "So that's where you've been!" she scolded, glaring at me.

"How'd you get past the locked door?" Edward groaned.

"Easy. I asked Emmett to pick it for me because you might be bothering Bella in your room. Alone. With no one else here. And a jazz number playing on your stereo."

My cheeks heated, but I smiled angelically at Alice. "Edward was just entertaining me with some stories. Thanks again, Edward."

Just then, Charlie appeared through the door. "Oh, here you guys are. Listen, Bella, I think we should head home. We don't want to overuse our welcome here."

"No, it's okay, Charlie. You and Bella are always welcome here!" Alice chirped. "Even for…overnight stays." Her eyes lit up as she said this, and I shrank behind Edward.

"Don't worry. Worst comes to worse, you can camp up here with me." Edward joked lightly.

Esme packed us some of the leftover food, which Charlie took eagerly, and we climbed into the car. The whole family waved from the door, and as we eased out of the driveway, I saw Edward follow the rest of his family in after a thoughtful gaze after me. I leaned back in my seat, eyes closed.

Everything that Edward had told me and somehow fit with my idea of what Jacob Black might be. But I had no definite proof.

Who was Jacob Black, anyways?

* * *

For those of you who are in a state of shock, these are for you...

Question One: Why was Bella helping Edward write her own lullaby?  
In the original Twilight, Edward writes the lullaby after watching Bella sleep. But, here, he just met her (no way he starts watching her sleep at that very instant) so it wouldn't make sense for him to write it later. BTW, for inspiration on how Bella would help him, I chose River Flows In You as the model lullaby.

Question Two: Why is Jasper not crazed when he's around Charlie and Bella?  
This question will be answered in ether the chapters to come or possibly in New Moon: Reversed Roles.

Question Three: Why isn't Rosalie jealous of Edward liking Bella?  
Well, Rosalie just started to know Bella. She doesn't even know Edward like Bella because it isn't clear yet! :P

Question Four: Why does Edward heisitate with elipses each time he says "my father"?  
Okay, we're all smart individuals. Look in Twilight, the chapter with Jacob and the Scary Stories. Now do you get it?

Question Five: Why are their skins cold? Why are Rosalie and Emmett pretending to eat? Why doesn't Edward have a bed?  
Did you even read Twilight at all?

Love you all! Review, if you please, but try to remember: I'm treading as close to the original plot of Twilight as I can. But, as you can see, I'm tweaking it to suit the story line, which means no Nomadic vampires and no Volturi in chapters (stories really) to come. Be prepared for my substitute villains :D  
I don't mind criticism, as long as its constructive and not a flame.

~Geneth :)


	8. Nightmare

Whoo, chapter seven sweeties! Now it starts to get interesting... :P

Hope you Edward fans enjoyed seeing a home-schooled, charming but not tempted version of Edward Cullen, but don't worry (and I quote Arnold Schwarzenegger when i say this) HE'LL BE BACK!

And now...for the Port Angeles scene! This chapter has a completely rewritten chapter of Chapter Seven and part of Chapter Eight because I couldn't fit all of it anyways... Enjoy! :D

~Geneth

* * *

_I was in a familiar place, but I wasn't sure where. I wandered around the plush forest, climbing carefully over each horrible tree root or vine that attempted to trip me. A path swirled, almost like a worm or snake, on the ground below me. Suddenly, I saw the bright car lights of a car. I screamed and froze, thinking it would hit me. The Volvo stopped, and Edward Cullen got out of the car. His abnormal topaz eyes were wide with terror as he looked around._

"_Bella, get in the car! Get in the car now!" _

"_Edward? Edward, what's wrong? What's going on?" _

"_We don't have much time, Bella" Alice's soprano voice was desperate. "He's coming for us; he's coming for you. We have to get you out of here." _

_Edward grabbed my wrist and started to pull me towards the car. But, for some reason, I resisted, determined to find out what was going on._

"_Edward, Alice, what's going on? Why are we running? Who are we running from?"_

_Suddenly, a low howl filled the air and Edward stiffened. He spun around, throwing me behind his back. The car door slammed, and Alice jumped out of the car. They stared off into the distance, and Edward growled menacingly, a low sound in his throat. Both Alice and Edward barred their teeth, and their canines appeared to have grown and sharpened. _

_Jacob Black emerged from the forest, dressed only in jeans. He snarled at the Cullens, triggering Edward to push me behind his back with more force. Jacob's hands clenched into fists, and his body began to shake rapidly._

"_What's going on?" I breathed, beginning to sound like a broken record._

_Suddenly, russet brown fur literally sprung out his body, causing his jeans to burst into a pile of fabric at his back feet. The largest wolf I had ever seen, the very one that had saved me from the van, was in front of me. Dark eyes stared at me, beckoned me to come. A mocking smile appeared on the wolf's muzzle, and he arched his head to motion me over._

_I stepped out from behind Edward and Alice's protective cover, taking another step forward. _

_Edward glared at me. "Bella, what are you doing?" he asked angrily, stepping forward with me._

_I blocked him out, focusing only on the Jacob-wolf. The wolf howled with delight, and stepped forward as well. I copied his movements, standing so that I was now only an arm's length away from the large dog. His wet nose touched my hand, and he opened his mouth as if to laugh._

_But Edward and Alice weren't taking any chances. Assuming that he was going to bite me, they sprang forward, tackled Jacob-wolf onto the ground, and Edward opened his mouth, about to sink his incredibly pointy teeth into the wolf's neck._

"NO!" I screamed, flinging myself up in my bed.

I blinked, and sheepishly looked around. Charlie's heavy breathing in the room next to me stuttered, paused, and then resumed. It was six thirty in the morning, and I was still dressed in my clothing that I had worn to the Cullens' house. Even my shoes were still in tact. I tore them off, placing them at the foot of my bed.

I fell back into my pillow, staring at the ceiling for what seemed like forever. Sleep seemed to have escaped me once and for all, so I peeked at the clock. Six thirty-two. Well, I never was any good at math.

Undressing out of jeans and my t-shirt, I slipped into much more comfortable sweats and a t-shirt that had definitely seen better days. In much more comfy clothing, I could think clearer. I rested my head against the backboard of my bed. Just what had that dream been about?

A small laptop on my desk caught my eye, and I considered it. Should I…? Well, I was going to find out anyways. Climbing out of my bed, I sat down at my desk and opened the laptop. A hot pink post-it pasted on the screen was written in a flowing script, reminding me to buy the new Prada bag when I had the chance.

Alice…My dad must have bought the computer from them as well as my car. I rolled my eyes and booted up the laptop. The laptop probably was a plain white one, but Alice had decorated it with black flower stencils, making it more decorative, but somehow quite emo.

A half-eaten granola bar that had made a good breakfast two days ago sat on the edge of my desk. I didn't want to go down to the kitchen for decent breakfast, in fear of bumping into or waking up Charlie, so I munched with great care into the last crumbs of the bar.

The laptop's desktop had miscellaneous files, stuff marked "Latest Shirt Designs", "For Esme", "D&G, Coach, etc." and this other one called "Volturi". _What the hell is "Volturi"?_ I pondered, scratching my head. Was I that behind on all of the latest fashion brands?

I clicked on a familiar link to one of my personal favorite Internet browser. After it loaded and I came to a search engine page, I thought for a moment and typed in, "_half man, half wolf_". The browser loaded, and then red letters near the top of the page announced, "Did you mean: _werewolf_?"

I clicked on the link hesitantly, and scrolled through the results. Mostly stuff about movies and Goth sites; there were even a handful of sites about this book that became a movie called Twilight. I mean seriously, who reads that kind of stuff?

Finally, I found a site on page fifteen, entitled, "The Werewolf: Do They Exist?" After a moment of waiting, a plain white background with Times New Roman text appeared. It looked as if a computer major had to create the site for a project, and was feeling too lazy about making it more creative. Two quotes in Italics were on the top, and the first one sent shivers down my spine:

_There is no silver bullet. . . . It is far more important to be able to find the right kind of gun, be able to load the gun. . .and perhaps more importantly be able to figure out where the werewolf is. ~Matthew Oliphant_

The second one was friendlier, but caused me to bite my lip nervously as I read slowly:

_If it looks like a human, walks like a human, talks like a human…well, one out of three ain't bad. All of us are God's creatures, after all. It's just that…some of us are more creature than others._ _~Anonymous_

The site then went on to explain the history of werewolves, and how they adapted in the past. In some parts of the world, those who could shape-shift were honored, worshiped to the point where they were near the power of monarchs. In other parts, however, they were persecuted and abused.

A sentence in bold letters frightened me, but confirmed my suspicions:

**No matter what anybody says, werewolves exist today.**

The site began to list the last sightings of werewolves all over the world. I frantically scrolled to the United States of America, looking at the latest sighting. The date read out that it was two months ago, near midnight, in a small town in Washington called…

I screamed and pushed away from the table, but immediately took my jacket off my bed and pressed it against my mouth. I listened quietly, and noticed that Charlie ether wasn't breathing or wasn't in his room. Creeping ever so quietly, I exited my room and saw that Charlie's room was empty, his bed unmade. His fishing boots were suspiciously missing from the foot of his bed, and I mentally reminded myself for more fish recipes. I returned to my room, and reread the words another time off the site.

**Sighting- 2145 hours; Forks, Washington; wolves were medium/silver, large/black & large/red-brown**

Could it be…No, of course not. It wasn't like Jacob Black turned into a wolf at the full moon, went hunting for pretty dames to attack, and howled at the moon. And, according to the laptop's electronic calendar, the last full moon had been three days before the last sighting.

Maybe Edward was right. Jacob was a descendant of a…wolf being. But, that would mean the Leah, Quil, and Sam and all of the other Quileutes were…No, that was silly, child-like at most. But, then again, maybe that was why I saw the wolves and that particular one that rescued me. His skin was warm, yet he claimed it was normal. Most animals have a warmer body temperature than humans.

And, he had skipped dissection day at Biology…maybe to avoid his animal instinct? To make the puzzle even more confusing, he had turned down an offer to visit someone that his father was supposedly working with. Sure, the Cullens was a bit quirky, but most families are as well. This backed up Edward's story of supposed vampires and werewolves war.

There was only two possible –and somewhat logical- things I could do. I could go back to promptly ignoring him, talking to him only for school purposes. I could cancel my plans to go Seattle with him, saying I was busy or sick or whatnot. I could just tell him to butt out of my life, leave me alone, and tell him to just stay with his Quileute friends. My heartbeat quickened at the thought. I couldn't do that. My mind pushed the idea out like an unwanted piece of trash.

The other was to just let things flow, let me run down the stream of the river and see where it would go. Jacob was growing friendlier with every passing day, and his werewolf skills were actually helpful when it came to me. If he hadn't transformed –I mean, if he did transform at all– I would've been just a pancake in front of Tyler's van.

But, then again, if Jacob was as sinister as he had been in my dreams, a flirty yet highly dangerous wolf that Alice and Edward had tried to shield me from, then maybe I should just stick with option one. I hadn't seen an angry side of him yet; while the other Quileutes had been rude to me on my first day, he had been just distant and afraid. But seriously, afraid of me? I was the human; he was the wolf!

I curled up with an old quilt in my desk chair. My head hurt, and my body ached from sitting in one position for too long. The door suddenly slammed downstairs, and I opened my door to find a disappointed Charlie standing there, covered with what appeared to be river water from head to foot.

"What happened?" I asked curiously.

"Some of the new fishermen were hogging all the spots; they even got a little violent. Their old spot was closed off because some sort of wolf was attacked and left on the dock, with half of the body missing."

I tensed. "A wolf?"

"Yeah, but it was only a pup, the poor thing. It looked like someone had whipped it to death, probably a poacher. So, the other detectives down there closed it off."

"Oh." I checked the clock on the wall. Three thirty already?! Had I really been daydreaming for that long?! I had a paper due, and household chores…I guess my plans to do with Jacob Black would have to wait.

At school the next day, Jessica cheerfully announced that she and Angela were heading dress shopping. She waited for me to catch her hint, and it finally dawned on me that she wanted me to eagerly ask to come along. Half-heartedly, I smiled and went along with her little shenanigan. Other things were on my mind, besides going out with Angela and Jessica. The stormy, rainy weather didn't improve my mood, and nether did the fact that none of the Quileutes had gone to school. Come to think of it, they never came to school on a thundering day like this.

I asked my father about attending the mini girls-night-out and, as soon as the baseball game was on commercial break, he agreed that it was good for me to hang out with some friends. I had a feeling that he thought I didn't have any real friends here in the microscopic city he lived in.

So, after school on yet another cloudy, Jacob-less day, we drove out to Port Angeles, a tourist trap that was the complete opposite of Forks. While Forks portrayed the idea of a small town with close people, horrible weather, and limited areas to travel, Port Angeles bragged of a much larger area with chubby tourists buying rip-off necklaces and t-shirts, and umbrella sellers at every street corner.

Jessica pulled into the lot of a department store that was, without a doubt, the biggest store within a mile of Forks. The two of them –well, Jessica really– shopped and chattered away, including me only in conversations that needed opinions on their attire. When Jessica sauntered away to try and haggle a lower price for a pair of super eye stilettos, I decided to ask Angela a question that had been nagging me.

"Angela?"

"Uh huh?" she said absently, unclipping her hoop earrings to try on a pair of earrings that nearly touched her shoulders.

"Do the Quileutes normally not come to school on the…stormy days?"

"Most of the time," she replied, fingering her earrings, "I don't know if it's in their religion or something, but they never come to school if there's thunder or lightening. Even if they're in school, and storm clouds are coming, a Quileute parent will come and pick them all up. Tyler and Mike say it's because they're scared of the storm, but I think it's deeper than that." She blushed slightly, returning the dangling earrings to its small box.

I thanked her innocently, silencing as Jessica sulked back to us. She hadn't gotten a lower price on the dangerously high stilettos, but she had managed a small sale on Angela's earrings. Apparently, the sales clerk preferred the quiet ones.

We walked out, Angela holding all of the shopping bags while Jessica skipped ahead of us. She spotted a few older guys over by the docks, sailors I think. They were cute, but after I had been exposed to the looks of Jacob and Edward, they didn't seem as hot as Jessica made it seem. She waved flirtatiously at them, and they responded with rowdy wolf-whistles and waves back.

"Angela, let's go talk to them!" she giggled.

"What about Mike?" Angela mumbled quietly, tossing bags from hand to hand.

"Screw him for a moment; I'm going to get me a sailor man!" She started towards them, but then seemed to remember me. "Oh right, Bella, you're seeing Jacob Black right?"

"Wha-wait…what?!" I sputtered

She ignored me. "Guess more for me and Angela then!" Jessica ran off, leaving Angela and I gaping at her departing figure.

Angela smiled sympathetically. "We'll meet you at the restaurant. Save yourself," she sighed, following reluctantly after Jessica, who had already started chatting away with the tallest, brawniest man, who would probably loose in an arm wrestle with Emmett Cullen. I was beginning to really like Angela.

Despite the large selection of shops along the boardwalk, there wasn't a single bookstore in the area. After I asked a woman reading in front of a coffee shop, she suggested that I continue walking east. I followed the woman's directions, and found a tiny bookstore crammed between a diner and a bridal gown store. The sign in front of it said that it had just closed three minutes ago, and I frowned in frustration. I decided to keep walking; I could see a few shops further behind a mini forest at the edge of the boardwalk. As I walked, I heard a man call out after me.

"Miss? Miss!"

I turned around, a knee-jerk reaction. It was one of the muscular sailors, still in his white uniform, and he slowed his pace as he came in front of me.

"Um…yes?" I said hesitantly.

"You're…you're with that girl with the wild brown hair, right?"

_Jessica? Oh God, what did you get me into! _I managed a smile. "Yes, that's right. What's wrong? Is she looking for me?"

"Um no…" He smiled slightly. "I'm looking for her." When I gave him a look of confusion, he explained. "You see, I wanted her phone number before, but she was all over my buddy, Bret. Bret's got a wife and kid back home, so when he told her there was no chance, she freaked out and stormed away…"

"Oh."

"So um…can you give me her phone number?"

A mental image of Jessica screaming her lungs out at me during school appeared in my mind. I bit my lip. "Sorry, she's seeing somebody right now."

"Really?" The man raised his eyebrow, but shrugged. "Okay then, what about your friend with the brown hair? She's not bad eye candy too."

"Also seeing someone," I replied.

"Well then, how about your number?"

His question caught me off guard, and I took a step back as he reached out for me. "I-I-I'm…I'm seeing a guy too…"

"What? Yeah right…I can see it in your eyes…" He put his hand under my chin, forcing me to make eye contact. "Now come on, I'm not that bad looking and frankly, my dear, I think you're the type that likes a nice man back home from sea."

I stumbled backwards, nearly toppling over. "G-get away from me."

"Oh come on," the man insisted. "Just a fling then? I could reserve us a nice hotel room, champagne, flowers..." He smiled a flirty but dark smile and stepped towards me again.

"I said stay away from me," I said in a small voice, turning around and walking towards the woods as fast as I could. If I was thinking clearly, I would've bolted for a place with lots of people so he couldn't find me. Nevertheless, a part of me wasn't thinking properly and now I was wandering in the woods.

The woods turned out to be larger than it seemed, and soon I was lost in the endless maze of trees and shrubs. The path on the floor was littered with dozens of roots and vines, and I tripped my way through the forest, looking for any source of light. When I finally came to the end of the shrubbery maze of forest, I saw that the entire area was closed for construction. I sighed. Maybe if I ordered online…Charlie would willingly give me his credit card, but I'd probably max out the money…

I returned to the woods, ready to follow the light out and back to the boardwalk. But it was much darker now, and goose bumps appeared on my arms from the sudden chill of the night. I shivered and rubbed my hands together for warmth. Maybe I shouldn't have left my jacket in Jessica's car.

Footsteps behind me caused me to halt. The footsteps mimicked me, stopping when I stopped. Using my peripheral vision, I saw that it was two guys in white sailor uniforms. I cursed under my breath and began to speed up my pace. Apparently, the guy I turned down didn't take rejection easily, and now he was sending his buddies to stalk me.

A figure appeared up ahead; another man in a uniform was walking towards me. I made a sharp right turn, climbing quickly over everything standing in my way. More footsteps joined the set of two behind me, and I tried to ignore them, but my heart was beating faster than a drum. Up ahead was light, a lamppost I hoped, and I began to rush towards the surge of freedom and, hopefully, people.

But as I approached the light, I stopped dead in my tracks again. Two men were leaning against the source of light, an old-fashioned lamppost that was rusting at the edges. They looked up and saw me, and grinned excitingly. I turned to move, but the two guys from before were there with matching Cheshire cat smiles.

The leader, the man I had refused, stepped out from behind a large tree. "There you are," he purred, "We've been looking for you."

"Go away." Those words were supposed to be a fearless command, but came out a soft whisper.

The man laughed, stepping forward "We just can't seem to stay away from you…No one refuses a man whose seen the ocean…And now I'm going to show you the sea…" The other sailors cooed and cawed at his poetry.

I stepped backwards, in the only direction I could go. A tree root stopped me from getting far; it tripped me and I fell on my backside. The men laughed in unison, advancing towards me yet again. I scooted further, but my back bumped into a tree and I knew that I was caught.

What little self-defense I knew or Charlie had taught me would be useless. They were all taller, stronger, and more advanced than I was. The best I could probably do was a kick to the groin, but as soon as that guy went down, the other four would pounce on me. I dug my fingernails into my palms, making fists that I could hopefully use to punch someone's nose.

Suddenly, a low growl sounded. The men froze, all exchanging glances. I blinked, thinking it was one of them...Maybe the one that liked to make animal noises before he assaulted the victim. But the growl sounded again, louder and coming from my left. The sailors started to back away from me.

A large, russet-brown wolf was slowly emerging from the shrubs next to me, his crouch low to the ground. He snarled at them, showing his teeth and slowly approaching them. The wolf's familiar brown eyes were amber fury, and another growl rippled from his throat. He pushed me back with his back foot, but kept his eyes focused on the now cowering men.

"W-w-what is that t-t-thing?" one of the sailors whimpered.

The wolf threw his head back, letting out a howl that sounded strangely similar to a villan's laughter. He snapped his jaws at one of the man's feet and the once brave man in uniform shrieked like a small girl.

I rose quietly from the ground, stepping forward so I could place my hand on the wolf's large back. A low humming noise, one that sounded like the purring of a cat, erupted from his throat and he cocked his head towards the men, almost giving off a wolf-like smile.

"Y-y-you…? Call that thing off!" screeched the stalker.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you," I said, my tone mocking slightly, "Call him on you? Is that what you want? Well, okay then….Go get 'em!" I nudged the wolf forward and he took another step towards them, lips rolled back to reveal his teeth. All of the heavy-set sailors let out shill screams and ran, stumbling over each other to get away from us.

I let out a breathless laugh, and the wolf joined in. I scratched him delicately behind his ears, and he let out a soft sigh, dropping to his knees and rolling onto his back for me to scratch his belly. When I obliged, he let out another low hum, rocking back and forth with another goofy wolf smile on his face.

"That's twice you saved me," I said matter-of-factually, halting my scratching. The wolf nodded, and then motioned towards his stomach again. But as I bent to scratch it again, I noticed a small cloth back tied to his leg.

"What's this?" I asked, reaching for one of the strings. The wolf's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth, as if he was going to yell at me to stop. I pulled the string, and it sprung open, sending something black into the air. I flinched, and the object landed on my lap. A familiar, musky scent filled the air and I looked down at the soft piece of fabric. What the…

"Sweatpants?" I said to no one in particular. The wolf let out a low sound that sounded almost exactly like a groan, and rolled back to his feet, about to make a break for it.

"W-wait!" The wolf turned around, staring at me with his large eyes. "Can we…can we talk about this?" He shook his head sadly, motioning with his head towards himself. _How am I supposed to talk to you like this?_ "You could…Can't you...transform?" He let out a laugh, and started deeper into the woods again. "Wait!" He turned around, eyes slightly narrowed and annoyed. "Can you at least show me the way out of here?"

* * *

Jacob-wolf to the rescue! For those of you who thought I was going to make him too Edwardesque, as you can now see, he's 100% Jacob :D

Don't complain about my portrayal of Jessica, if you please. I've always seen her as a flirt and a bit of a...what's the word...oh well, fill in the sentance with what you want.

Review please! I'm in a good mood, so bring on the criticism!

...if you dare! :P


	9. Dinner & Theory

Hey guys!

I was writing, and then I did the little counting my words thing and it turns out that this chapter, excluding my commenting, is about 6000 words O_O.  
That may not seem like a lot to you guys, because you're reading it, but it's a lot for me, considering that my other Twilight chapters were only 4000 words xD.

So enjoy this very, very long Twilight: Reversed Roles chapter!

~Geneth

PS By the way, I make a false piece of information about the Quileutes in this chapter that's mostly only here for the purpose of the story's plot in later chapters. I'm not meaning to offend anyone if anyone does start to go that way :P

* * *

I never thought that I would be happy to see the Port Angeles boardwalk again, but a rush of emotions ran through me as the wolf led me towards the familiar lights and stores. Apparently, the wolf was still slightly annoyed with me, but he allowed me to scratch behind his ears as we walked. As we were about to step onto the boardwalk, the wolf let out a low growl, stepping in front of me and forcing me back into the trees.

"What's wrong?" I asked anxiously.

The wolf nodded sullenly towards the edge of the boardwalk. Five of the sailors whom he had scared were huddled around another bulky man in a stark white uniform. They pointed to the forest every now and then, wide eyes still full of panic. A dark laugh erupted from the wolf's throat, and he sighed.

"Don't worry," I said, about to step out again. "I'll figure something out."

But, yet again, the wolf stepped in front of me, snapping his teeth at my feet. When I glared at him, he pushed me against the tree. The message he was attempting to say was clear to me in a flash. _STAY!_ I nodded, showing my comprehension so he wouldn't think I was stupid. And with that, the wolf ran off into the bushes.

I stood for a moment, waiting. Finally, Jacob Black climbed out from behind the large bush the wolf had just disappeared into. He was barefoot, covered in grass, and was struggling to pull on a navy blue sweatshirt, giving me a glimpse of a perfectly sculpted chest. Jacob grinned when he saw me staring.

"Oh, hey, Bella! Fancy seeing you in the middle of the woods!" He reached behind me, pulling out a pair of grass-stained sneakers.

I rolled my eyes. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm helping you pass the scaredy-cat sailors." I put my hands on my hips, and he continued. "If they see you alone, then they're going to accuse you of sending your 'big dog' on them. If they see that you're with someone, then their accusation is completely bogus."

"Ohhh…" An idea came to my head, and I put on a careful smile. "Hey, you might want to drop me off at the restaurant too? They might follow me, and I can't think of an explanation that I could give to Jessica and Angela."

Jacob didn't catch on, still cleaning his hair and clothing. "What? Oh, okay, sure…" He paused, looked at me thoughtfully, and then reached over and undid my ponytail. "Comb your hair a little," he advised, peeking out of the forest. I obeyed, combing with my fingers through the waves of my hair until it was almost completely straight.

"Good. Now, let's go!" Jacob held out his hand and, thoughtlessly, I placed my hand in his. His hand was slightly cooler than its normal heat wave, and I marveled at how small and pale my hand looked in his. And, with a small smile that caused my heart to temporarily stop, Jacob stepped onto the boardwalk, dragging me along with him.

As we passed the sailors, Jacob looked over his shoulder. "Come on," he said, stressing the "n" in on, "We're going to be late for the movie!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I replied, playing along. I pretended to wipe my forehead, and secretly snuck a look at the sailors. All stared at us, dumbstruck as they tried to point me out to their captain.

We continued our fast pace. Finally, Jacob stopped completely, nearly making me bump into him. "Fine, if you're going to be so slow, I'll give you a piggyback ride." His smile grew very wide, and playfully sinister.

I gasped, but I wasn't faking it this time. "You wouldn't." Effortlessly, and in one try, Jacob hoisted me onto his back and started to speed walk down the rest of the boardwalk. I tried to pull away and climb off, but Jacob's iron grip held me in place.

"What the hell was that for?" I whispered angrily into Jacob's ear, bouncing along as Jacob hummed to himself.

"The captain looked like he was going to approach us. I need to perform that final push that caused him to think his sailors were going crazy." He flashed his warm smile at me again, and I silenced myself.

When we were within twelve feet of the restaurant, I ordered Jacob to let me down, just in case Jessica and Angela were outside. He let me down, and we walked side by side towards the restaurant. Sure enough, Jessica and Angela were sitting on the wide front steps of the restaurant. When they saw me, and the boy behind me, Jessica did a double take while Angela shrugged and pulled Jessica to us.

"Hey, Bella," Angela said, sounding relieved.

"Where've you been? We looked everywhere for you," Jessica added, her eyes not leaving Jacob's face.

"I bumped into Jacob at the coffee shop," I lied smoothly, "And we just got to talking and I guess we lost track of time…" I smiled, embarrassed for real at my strange fib.

"Would it be okay if I ate dinner with you guys?" Jacob asked with a friendly smile, tossing his glossy hair out from his eyes.

"Um…we actually ate while we were waiting for you, Bella…sorry," Angela apologized. Jessica's pupils dilated and she nudged Angela sharply with her elbow.

"Oh, okay. It's fine…"

"I think you should eat," Jacob murmured in my ear, the innocent move sending Jessica into a new form of curiosity. I grinned to myself; my plan was working out nicely. He cleared his throat, straightening himself slightly. "Do you guys mind if I take Bella home? I think she ought to live off something more than coffee."

"Err…sure!" Jessica said, finally speaking up. "See you at school, Bella…Jacob…" She flounced away, Angela saying good night to us before hurrying after her.

"Really, I'm not hungry," I told Jacob sternly, looking at the light up menu on the window of the restaurant.

"Oh please," he scoffed, "I can practically hear your stomach growling." He held the door open for me, and we entered the light warmth of the inner restaurant.

The restaurant's host, a delicate woman with bouncy ringlets of brown highlighted hair, looked up as we entered. Her eyes met mine for a second, and then settled on Jacob, surveying him down and up, and then back down. For a long time. She was probably only a few years older than the both of us, but yet it still caused me to feel nauseated to think that she actually thought she could get together with Jacob.

"Welcome to _Il Cane Mangia Dapprima_," she cooed in a horrible nasal voice. "Table for…one?"

"Two," I replied hotly, placing my hand in Jacob's. Jacob glanced at me, but then nodded in agreement.

She ignored me, completely focusing on Jacob as she grabbed only one menu and led us to a table with another couple already sitting there, only separated by a small glass panel.

"Perhaps somewhere more…private?" Jacob asked quietly, cocking his head slightly so that his eyes smothered hers for a few minutes.

The host blinked, then nodded and walked us to a booth in the corner of the restaurant. "Is this better?"

"Yes, quite better," Jacob smiled, yet again making her stop completely as she just stared at his teeth. If she had been any closer and looking even more intently, she'd be a dentist and Jacob the patient.

"Uh…your server will be right out," she said quickly, teetering off on unsteady toothpicks of legs that looked like they would break if she sped herself up. I tutted, sliding into the plastic leather seat.

Jacob sat across from me, innocently looking up at me. "What?"

"You shouldn't smother them like that."

"Smother?"

"You know…you smother someone with those eyes of yours and the flip" –I flipped my hair with one hand, as if I was in a shampoo commercial– "of your pretty hair."

"I…smother people?" He let out a snort of laughter. "Do I…smother you?"

"Course," I admitted shamelessly.

Our server arrived, a small girl with her black hair pulled back in a complicated bun. Curls of her hair had managed to escape, and she had carelessly thrown them behind her ears. For some reason, she reminded me of Alice Cullen, and I suppressed a smile. And, I immediately liked her because she had a shiny engagement ring on her finger.

"Hi, I'm Priya," she said with a smile in both of our directions, although her smile was brief towards me and longer towards Jacob. "I'm going to be helping you guys out tonight. What can I get you to drink?"

Jacob looked at me expectantly, and I thought for only a moment before selecting my favorite drink. "Do you have raspberry ice tea?"

"You bet," she nodded, scratching my request into her notepad. She glanced at Jacob, who ordered the same thing. "I'll be right back to take your orders," she chirped before leaving us alone.

"By the way, Bella, how are you feeling?" Jacob asked innocently.

"Um, fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I have two sisters, and I could tell when something is bothering them. For example, when one of my sister's boyfriends hit her, she tried to suppress it and…" He waved his arms around him to pantomime fireworks. "But you…you just got almost assaulted by a group of men and look: nothing."

"Are your sisters older or younger?" I said in an attempt to avoid this conversation.

"Older. I grew up thinking Barbie was cool." His face was so dead serious that I burst into laughter, and then covered my mouth when people started to stare.

Just then, Priya reappeared with our drinks balanced in one hand and a basket full of breadsticks in another. She placed them on the table, placing also straws on top of our drinks. "Are you two ready to order?" she asked kindly, pulling her pad out from her pocket.

Jacob took a quick look at the menu. "I'll have the spaghetti alfredo with meatballs and chicken…and could you replace the soup with perhaps your Caesar salad?" He grinned impishly when he was done, proud of himself.

"Great choice," Priya complimented, tucking another stray lock behind her ear. "And you?" she asked me with a sweet smile.

"Umm…" I picked the first thing I saw on the menu. "I'll have the spinach ravioli with the three cheeses…" Compared to Jacob's massive order, my order seemed tiny.

"Let me know if you want anything else," she called over her shoulder as she walked off. The second she disappeared into the kitchen, Jacob turned back to me, pushing both drinks towards me.

"Drink," he said in his deadpan voice again. I bit my lip to prevent myself from laughing again, and took one of the cups from the side of the table. I permitted myself a small sip, and then deeper gasps of the soda as I suddenly realized how parched and dry my throat was. Before long, the whole thing was empty and Jacob was pushing the other glass towards me.

"See?" he said triumphantly. "You are going into shock!"

"I-I-I am not," I argued, shivering from the coldness of the drink and ice.

"Are you cold?" he asked curiously.

"J-j-just a little." I looked down at the seat next to me. "I left my jacket in Jessica's car…"

But Jacob was already on his feet, standing to the right of me. "Scoot in," he insisted, and I moved over on the bench. Jacob plopped down next to me and, in an instant, I was being warmed by some sort of heat source. I glanced at Jacob, who was staring off into the distance. The heat radiating off his skin was shocking, and I absently leaned slightly towards him. I felt as if I was back in Phoenix, in the winter type of weather where the temperature was around seventy-five degrees.

"Thanks," I mumbled, leaning back towards my side of the bench. I had never noticed it, but Jacob had this wonderful musky scent. It was better than any other cologne I had ever smelled, and it was inviting and warm, as if it was trying to lure me into curling up next to Jacob by a warm fire.

"No problem. I'd offer you my sweatshirt, but I don't have a t-shirt underneath. Besides, you're wearing such a cute cream blouse, and I didn't want to cover it."

My cheeks flushed with his mild flirting, and I looked down self-consciously. It was one of my nicer shirts; a delicately made white shirt with mild ruffles at the ends of the short sleeves and a plain white belt that was attached to the back.

Jacob reached for the breadbasket, and carefully plopped it down in front of me. When I blinked, he grinned and motioned for me to take one. I opened my mouth to protest about me not having another shock moment, he stuffed half of a breadstick into my open mouth.

I tried to spit it onto his lap, but he pressed his warm hand on top of my mouth. "Swallow!" The serious voice killed me into a fit of laughter, and I nearly choked on the bread, but forced myself to chew and swallow. He poked my cheek and I opened my mouth, feeling like a contestant on Fear Factor who had just swallowed five whole beetles.

"There," Jacob victoriously proclaimed. "A normal person would be thanking me right now, but you're not even the least bit surprised or shaken." He shook his head, as if disappointed.

"I'm not…because I…I feel safe around you," I admitted, picking at the tip of the breadstick with my fingers.

His eyes widened, but only for a moment, before he returned to his calm but troubled face. "This is way more complicated that I hoped for…" He turned away, adding in a voice I don't think I was supposed to hear, "Sam's going to love this…"

I decided to change the subject, and I ventured towards the random topic of food. "Aren't you going to have any breadsticks?"

"No, those are for you," he insisted. "You know that…Why do you ask?"

"When you have food in you," I replied carefully, "You tend to be friendlier and more open. You also tend to umm…"

"What?"

"Flirt more," I added in my most inaudible voice. "I have a theory on that though."

Jacob somehow still heard me, and shot me a look. He opened his mouth, probably to say something sarcastic, but the waitress –bless her– strode back to our table. Priya placed the food in front of me, and then picked up two additional plates for Jacob.

"Enjoy, guys. Can I get you some more ice tea?"

"Yes, please," Jacob said, his mouth already stuffed with his salad. As Priya went to talk with her latest customers, Jacob swallowed his mouthful of food and then looked back at me. "So, what's your theory?"

"I'll tell you later, when we're not surrounded by people. But…I have a few questions though." I picked up my fork and speared the edge of the ravioli. It actually looked good, but I instead glanced at Jacob to see how he would respond.

"Questions?" I nodded, and he raised one of his heavy eyebrows. "Very well then. Fire away."

"Why are you in Port Angeles?"

His eyes flickered with amusement. He popped a noodle into his mouth. "It's right next door to La Push, so I thought I should go stop by and buy some stuff." The whole time he was saying this, Jacob's tone was sarcastic.

"That's the easiest one," I objected with a pout.

"If that's the only question, I would like to eat this fabulous alfredo in peace," Jacob replied, making a big show of dropping one of the enormous meatballs into his mouth. Priya returned with our drinks, glanced with puzzlement at us, and then left again.

"But…"

"Do you have other questions or not?"

I fumed silently, piercing the other portion of my ravioli. I chewed with great care, sipped a bit of the new glass of raspberry ice tea, and then finally spoke. "Let's say, hypothetically, that there is a certain someone who can…transform from being a human to being a…animal. How does this work? What are the limits? How could…that someone transform in order to save…another at exactly the time? How did…he even know that…she was in trouble?"

"Hypothetically?" He thought for only a moment. "Well, if that someone…"

"Let's call him Voldemort," I suggested.

"Voldemort?"

"Yeah." I blushed red. "You know…He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"Ohhh, okay then. If Voldemort had been tracking this…other person, the timing of his transformation would have to be precise. If you hadn't gone into the woods, or just into the boardwalk, Voldemort wouldn't have stopped them. And, if Voldemort had lost track of you, you would've ended up all over the trees."

"We're talking about a hypothetical case," I reminded him.

"Oh yes, of course," he said primly. "Shall we call you Mr. Potter?"

"How did you know?" I asked, my voiced edging on sarcasm. I was unintentionally leaning towards Jacob, and my face was growing warm from the heat. His arm was resting on the top of the chair, just above me, and he looked down at me, his eyes amused but hesitant, debating whether he should say more or not.

"You can trust me," I murmured, leaning towards him again. Suddenly, I was resting just along his hip and partially on his chest. He nudged me back over to my side of the bench, then pulled away. When I settled, he spoke in a soft whisper that I nearly missed.

"I don't think I have a choice anymore," he confessed. "You're so much more observant than anyone I've ever encountered. You are a magnet for any or all accidents…no, wait! Trouble; you're a thing that attracts trouble. If anything dangerous, say a truck or a group of criminal sailors, gets within ten feet of you, they track you down and try and harm you."

"Would you put yourself in that category?" I blurted out.

The humor and warmth for his eyes vanished. "Perhaps. And you're in that category for me," he added in a low voice. After a moment of silence, I reached over and touched the very ends of his dark fingertips. They were almost scorching to the touch, but I forced myself to feel for a few seconds before placing my hand back on the table. It seemed to ease him, and the words tumbled out of his mouth at a speed that seemed to fast for my ears.

"I followed you to Port Angeles. I've never tried to follow just one specific person before, and it was so frustrating every time I lost you, and then found you, and then lost you again. But, then again, normal people don't get in as much trouble as you do. Normal people think to stay away from those who seem to resent her."

A flashback flicked on in my mind, and I stared down at my food. When I had first came, the hostility that had been angled towards me from the Quileutes had caused me to go into a depressing rage. But now, here I sat with the one boy who hadn't been mean, but afraid.

Jacob smiled sympathetically. "You remember?"

"Of course," I replied calmly.

"And yet, here you are, unharmed physically but slightly mentally."

I playfully slapped him. "I am not mentally harmed by anything."

"Whatever, you're traumatized and won't admit it. Speaking of which…" He gestured towards his near clean plate and my still cold one. "You aren't eating. Eat some more, and we'll talk." I stuffed two pieces of ravioli in my mouth, and Jacob grinned before continuing.

"It's hard –keeping track of you, not following you. Following you is simple. All I have to do is through on a hat or sunglasses and you wouldn't notice me on the crowded streets. But you…Usually I can track someone easily, as long as I know how he or she smells like and sounds like.

"I was tracking Jessica, since she wears that horrible perfume that I could smell from two miles back, and I didn't even know until I saw her standing with the sailors that you had gone off by yourself. I went looking for you, searching for your scent, but it started to run cold. I tried the bookstore, but it was closed, and the scent only led to the woods. I started to head into their when I heard them.

"They were teasing the sailor you had turned down, saying he was such a sissy and every other insult in the book. So, he suggested that they find you and…" He paused. "Anyways," he said, skipping over his words, "I had to act quickly, but understand me when I say this: I can't just slip in and out of my…phasing. I stood in the bushes, watching them slowly circle you, and then...as you fell to the floor…I phased immediately and ran behind you." He hung his head slightly. "If you hadn't stopped me –if you hadn't been right there to comfort me– I would have probably ripped them to shreds."

Jacob's hands had somehow reappeared from behind him. He rested his hands into it, and sat still, his tale told. He glanced up to me, at my shaken self that just sat there, staring at him like an idiot. Finally, Jacob spoke, his question so simple and non-reflective of our conversation.

"You ready to go?"

I stared down at my now empty plate. I had been throwing ravioli into my mouth quickly each time Jacob had paused during his story, thinking he would stop speaking if I didn't eat. I nodded, and Jacob motioned Priya over.

"All done?" she asked, scooping up my plate and Jacob's spotless dishes. Balancing the three dishes with one hand, she reached into the pocket of her apron and handed us a small leather folder. Jacob already had a bill in his hand, and he scanned the receipt before handing the folder and bill back to her.

"No change," he said, sliding out of the bench. He held a hand out, and helped me to my feet.

"Have a nice evening," Priya called after us as we headed towards the door. I waved back in response, and followed Jacob to the parking lot. The restaurant, waitress, and food had been quite nice; maybe I would come back some other time with Charlie. Jacob navigated quickly to his motorcycle, pulling back a large black sheet he had covered it with off and folding it quickly into a small square. After tucking it into his jacket pocket, Jacob motioned for me to hop on and grab a helmet.

This time, however, I forced myself to keep my eyes open. It wasn't that bad…if Jacob had slowed down. He constantly accelerated, faster and faster, to the point where I almost upchucked on him. And, although the ride was smooth, Jacob liked to rev the engine and make it seem like we were going over a bumpy road in the middle of nowhere.

Sometime later, Jacob pulled his motorcycle into a small park along the road. He shut his motorcycle off, climbing off it without difficulty, and then gingerly helped me down. I was confused, but he didn't explain anything until we were in the middle of the park and were both sitting on cold stone benches.

"Now," he said confidently, "it's time to hear your theory."

I glanced around us. No one else was sitting on the benches or running. I shivered, leaning into Jacob for warmth, and then bit my lip nervously. "Can I ask you one more question?"

"One. And then you have to stop stalling."

"You never answered my question on the shape shifting. How does it…work exactly?"

The corner of his mouth twitched, and he closed his eyes. "It's somewhat complicated to explain…When we first became the way we were, our shifting was only triggered by emotions. If I got angry, I would change. If I got sad, I would change. If I got overexcited, I would change. So, for that reason, I missed half of a school year trying to control myself, forcing myself to control the feelings inside of me. But, as I started to learn discipline, the phasing began to come naturally. I can't do it on command, to this day, but if someone I care about is getting hurt or someone else makes me extremely mad, it happens and I can deny it or allow it to unleash. Sam has been trying to study why that is, but we've haven't had much results so far."

"So," I said, attempting to be casual, "You care about me?"

His face flushed, and he turned away. "It's something we shouldn't talk about right now, Bella. Now, your theory please?"

I folded my hands on my lap, looking at my fingers link through each other. "I…I don't know where to start."

"How about where you got this from? Movies, books, television?"

"No, it was Saturday. Charlie took me to visit one of his new favorite families, and I got to talking with one of the kids…"

He blinked, eyebrows raised.

"The boy was Edward Cullen." His confused expression fell, replaced by a slightly darker one. "We got to talking, and he happened to tell me a story involving his family and yours…And the story involved…"

"Involved what?" he said, his voice near snapping.

"Werewolves." The word sliced through the air, seeming to me to break all connections Jacob and I had just made over the past two hours.

"And you immediately thought of me and the rest of my Quileute friends?" His voice was eerily calm for someone I had just called a half man creature.

"No, he…mentioned you and the others." I looked up at him, and saw that his face was also as calm as his voice. It was too abnormal for a human to pull this off, let alone a werewolf. "But, he didn't expect me to believe it," I added quickly, as if it made a difference. "I came to the conclusion on my own."

"How so?"

"I did a little Internet research, but…it seemed too ridiculous for…you. Besides, it doesn't make a difference."

"Doesn't make a difference?!" The calmness in his voice had evaporated, and now it was angry and full of disbelief. "It doesn't matter to you that I'm not even fully human? It doesn't matter that I'm some sort of wolf creature that prowls and lurks in the darkness?"

I stared back down at my hands, my cheeks warming, but not from Jacob. My eyes didn't fill with tears as it normally would if I was being yelled at, and I got up from the bench. Maybe it would be best if I should just leave the park and take a cab home.

As I turned towards the exit, I felt Jacob's warm hand grab mine. His face was grim, but both hands were wrapped around my wrist. "I…I'm sorry," he whispered softly, "It's just that…it took me off guard…that's all." He smiled hopefully at me, and I managed a small smile back. He patted the seat next to me, and I sat back down. And then, he took my hand and, very cautiously, I placed my head on his shoulder. I tensed, waiting to see how he would react.

He responded with a soft, low chuckle, and then let us sit there silently. The darkness was just barely settling in, and I listened to the quiet rhythm of the bugs and birds of the dark. Finally, a question came to my mind, and I lifted my head.

"I have a question, but you have to promise that you won't laugh."

"Yes ma'am!" He mock-saluted me, winking as he did so.

"Why don't you transform during the full moon?"

He started to laugh, but recovered before it got out of hand. "Myth."

"Unable to control yourself during your wolf status?"

"Myth."

"Killed by silver bullets?"

"Big, big myth. We can't get hurt by any bullets or anything. In fact, we heal ourselves quickly." When I urged him on, he motioned towards his arm that had been in a brace maybe a week or two before. It was now perfectly normal looking. "As werewolves, we have to be able to recover quickly; it's part of us, I guess. And, we can't go to any normal doctor to get anything fixed because of our body temperature. Imagine that…a thermometer in my mouth beeping away!"

I smiled, getting back to my questions. "So, how about being called to kidnap damsels in distress?"

"That's actually a truth," he said mischievously, rubbing his hands together evilly as he looked me up and down. I gulped, and he laughed wickedly in response. Suddenly, his face went sober. "But you haven't asked me the most important question yet."

"What's that?"

"You aren't concerned about what else I eat besides human food?"

"You…you eat something else?"

"As part wolf, our stomachs aren't exactly filled by eating human food. So, once every week, we head to the forest and hunt for the real stuff." I froze. The sighting on the website…so it had been them! They were probably out getting some food when a camper or pedestrian saw them.

"I…Edward didn't mention that…" I stammered.

"I figured, with his memory, he probably told you that already," he mumbled, turning away again.

"Tell me…"

"What?"

"Tell me why you were…scared of me on the first day I came here."

His face went hard again. "I…That's something I shouldn't really tell you now. Maybe in the future, but not now. And I was not scared, just a bit…jumpy, that's all." We sat in the awkwardness again, and I was afraid to ask him another question, in case it set him off again.

"Bella, it's okay that you ask questions," he said, breaking the silence, speaking as if he had read my mind. "It's just that…I can't answer all of them right now. You do understand, right?" I nodded, and he managed a small smile. "But you can ask me about why I'm never at school on a stormy day."

"Okay," I grinned. "Why are you never at school when it's stormy?"

"What a good question! I thought you'd never ask!" He winked at me before continuing. "On stormy days, it's a Quileute tradition that we stay home and perform a…werewolf related activity. It's almost like how some people read their tealeaves, or how others look in a crystal ball. We look up at the storm clouds, and then see what's in store for us through the fluffiness."

"Ah," I replied. "So, is it always a good future?"

"Not all the time. Sometimes, we'll find out about something scandalous, so we try our hardest to avoid or go around that obstacle. It may not be a certain thing, maybe an event, sometimes even a person…" His voice cracked slightly at the word person.

Realization swept over me. "Did…Was I in your future?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"Yes. But that's not why we…reacted like that." He paused, looking up in the cloudless sky. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"What were you thinking, just before I saved you from those goons? You…you weren't exactly the face of someone who was scared…More like someone who was ready to pick a fight with them."

"I was trying to remember any self-defense that Charlie told me," I said sheepishly. "I was going to get a groin kick in and then fight for my life."

Jacob was surprised. "You weren't going to try and run?"

"I trip a lot when I run," I confessed, "So my idea was to punch and scream." He smirked, and I stuck my tongue out at him. "Will you be at school tomorrow?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Of course. If it's not stormy, then I'll be there. I have a paper due too, you know. And, since I don't participate that much in English, if I don't bring in this paper, I'm probably only going to get a B for this semester." He got up from the bench, helping me up, and we started walking back towards his motorcycle. "I'll save you a seat during lunch."

I blushed, his promise causing the butterflies in my stomach to go into hyperactive mode. As we climbed on, I couldn't help but notice how comfortable Jacob was now, how casual he was with his words and movements towards me. He revved the engine, and I actually didn't mind clinging onto him as we drove off.

We arrived in front of Charlie's house too soon, and I reluctantly pulled myself off the bike, handing Jacob's spare helmet back. "You promise to be there tomorrow?"

He lifted his helmet off, and his warm smile answered the question. "Yes, Bella, I promise." I started towards the house, but he called after me and I spun around. "Can you promise me something in return?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Don't go into the woods, any woods, alone."

I blinked, comprehending his words. "Why?"

"Let's just say I'm not the worst thing out there." And with that, he flipped his helmet back on and drove away.

Charlie wasn't suspicious of me arriving at this time of night. It turns out that it was only 8:30 pm, perfectly normal I guess. I spoke mechanically to him, my thoughts still reflecting the quiet night I had spent with Jacob, when Charlie suddenly mentioned that Jessica had called three times. I frowned, knowing that Jessica was probably going to bother me to death tomorrow.

I showered quickly, letting my tension wash away into the drain, and then swiftly returned to my room and hopped into bed. My mind was still swimming with the images, the feelings that had occurred only an hour ago. My head on Jacob's shoulder, the gentle touch of our hands together, the warm that radiated off his skin and warmed me.

Of three things I was absolutely certain. One, Jacob Black was a werewolf. Two, there was certain reason for everything in his life, and a certain reason why the Quileutes had feared me. I wasn't sure why, but I had a feeling that Jacob would reveal that to me when the time was right.

And third, I was in love with him. And something inside of me told me that he was in love with me too.

* * *

Thus ends another Twilight chapter!  
Please note that I did add the very "Twilight-ish" phrase at the ending because it is a Twilight fanfic and I'm sticking close to the original :)

Reviews are highly appreciated, but no flame! Constructive criticism, s'il vous plaît :D

~Geneth


	10. Interrogations

Hey guys! Guess what, guess what!

One of you super nice people nominated me for the Cullen Awards! *squees!* So, whoever it is, thanks soo much!

Currently, I'm up for the Alice Award for Best WIP, the Edward Award for Best Romance, and the Jacob Award for Best Werewolf Story! :) You can click go to **.com** and click on **nominees** to see my story up there!

Keep reviewing guys! I'll tell you when the voting begins!

~Geneth  
PS Sorry for all the exclamation points :D I got carried away...

* * *

It was foggy outside when I woke up the next day, with not a cloud in the sky. I smirked about this as I pulled on a heavy outfit for the day. There was no excuse for Mister Jacob Black not showing up for school. Unless, of course, the weather turned stormy in the middle of the day. Grabbing an apple from the fridge, I hurried outside, suddenly eager to get to school on time. But then I stopped dead in my tracks.

Jacob Black was leaning against the door of a small black car, the smile on his face lighting up the morning. I looked around, noticing that his usual sleek motorcycle was nowhere in sight.

"Morning!" he called cheerfully.

"Um, hey," I replied, pulling my bag onto my shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

"Picking you up for school," he said, his voice still animated. With his enthusiasm and smile, he and Alice Cullen could be good friends. _Oh wait, they can't…_I mentally whacked myself on the head for forgetting that important detail.

"And why are you picking me up from school?"

"Because I'm awesome that way," he replied, opening the door for me. I walked slowly to the unfamiliar car, and climbed in. The car smelled absolutely amazing, exactly like Jacob's musky but soothing scent. I inhaled, memorizing the exact smell. If they made a bottle of Jacob-smelling perfume, I'd buy a dozen boxes and spray them in my room.

He climbed in from the driver's side, and then started the car with a flourish of his hands. The engine purred to life, and it drove smoothly like his motorcycle, but much slower. Jacob drove with the expertise of an older person, and he hummed to himself doing so. In fact, Jacob's humming was the only noise in the car. I sat, awkward at the least, on the passenger's side, being warmed by Jacob and the heater.

Finally, Jacob turned to me with a look of confusion on his face. "What, did I do something wrong? Are you giving me the silent treatment?"

"W-what? No!" I felt my cheeks heat, but I managed a smile. "I just thought that maybe my questions bothered you yesterday."

"Don't be silly," he retorted, fingers drumming the steering wheel. "The only thing that's bothering me now is the fact that my friends are going to be nagging me when we get to school. It was supposed to be my turn to drive them today, but I doubt you want to be stuck in a big van with six other boys all talking about hormones and girls and 'Oh Ma Gawd Textin' Pawns'. Oh, and did I mention that there's an annoying girl in the seat behind you, chatting up a storm about how she likes breaking everyone's ears when she attempts to sing?"

I laughed; I couldn't help it. Jacob often made a person feel like laughing, or smiling, or being all buddy-buddy with him. "So where are the rest of them then?"

He pulled into the school's parking lot and motioned outside the car window. I stifled a gasp. Seven shiny motorcycles were parked in a straight line along the parking lot wall, a single space at the end saved for Jacob, who pulled into it easily. There was an array of colors such as brown, silver, and black and I couldn't help but ask Jacob why there were those specific colors.

"When we are in wolf form, our fur is a certain color, so we tend to like that color above the other options."

"What about your black motorcycle? Your fur is russet colored."

"I got that motorcycle for my sixteenth birthday, exactly one week before I started to undergo transformation. By the time I could finally ride it, I didn't even care about the color anymore. Besides," he said, dropping his voice to an almost silent whisper, "my father says that black is the color of the alpha. Sam is the only other person with a black motorcycle, but mine totally tops his."

We both walked towards the main building's roof overhang, where Jessica stood with her mouth nearly touching the floor. Draped over her arm was my jacket, and something told me that she wasn't going to give it back without some kind of fight.

"Good morning, Jessica," Jacob said, his voice still overly happy. Without noticing, or out of pure habit, Jacob flipped his dark hair out of his eyes, which began to do his "smothering" technique.

"Err…umm…hi," she stuttered. She reluctantly handed over my jacket without a fight, and I smiled at Jacob, mentally reminding myself to thank him later. Jessica forced herself to look away from him –poor thing; she still thought she had a chance– and shot me a reproachful look. "I'll see you later, Bella. In Trig." She said these words with narrowed eyes, walking away with a stride of a queen, and I sighed. What was I going to tell her?

"So, I'm assuming Jessica's going to be bothering you in Trig."

"How did you know?" I asked, startled. "Can you read minds too?"

"Nope. Two sisters, remember?" He tapped my forehead gently with his knuckle. "You've got to keep up, Bella. She's probably going to bother you until you say something…What do you have in mind as of now?"

"I...Um…She's probably going to ask about if we're dating or not, and probably going to pester me about my feelings towards you. She is Jessica Stanley after all."

"Oh goodie, I love a good Jerry Springer show." He winked. "And I'll be listening to you answers."

"You will?!"

"Yes. Because we're werewolves, we're able to hear from far distances…"

"Which makes it easy for me to hear you trash talk my motorcycle." Sam appeared from the side of the school. Even though I knew what he was, and I could hold this against him, I cowered behind Jacob. Jacob also tensed slightly, grabbing my hand and caressing my palm with his thumb.

But Sam smiled a small grin towards me. "Good morning, Bella. Nice to see you and Jake here…together…in school." Jacob shot him a look, but he continued. "You should probably say yes to the dating question, for both of your sakes…and I'm sure the rest of the Quileutes will be dying to listen with Jacob for your second."

My cheeks flushed as red as a tomato. Why was Sam deciding to be so intimidating right now, at this very moment? Jacob seemed to be thinking the same question, and he glared at Sam with intense eyes. They communicated with only their eyes, a wolf thing I assumed, and I realized why Sam had taken the offensive.

Jacob had accidentally insulted Sam as alpha wolf, and Sam was now warning him what would happen if he did so again. Suddenly, Sam's eyes calmed, and he smirked, stepping away from Jacob with ill humor in his eyes.

"See you later Jacob, Bella." And with that, he pivoted, walking away towards the shadows, where six other pairs of eyes glittered with excitement.

Jacob watched until he disappeared before turning back to me. "I'm so sorry, Bella. He's really not that bad, just protective. He's afraid of…of…"

"Of me?"

"I never said that," he said with a gentle smile. He released my hand. "Well, we'd better be going, or else we're going to be late for class!" He started to walk away before adding in a cheerful voice. "I'll see you at lunch."

Trig came fast and, before I knew it, I was being forced to sit down in the back row by an overexcited Jessica. I looked around, noticing that Jared, Jacob's easily bored wolf brother, was sitting near the middle of the room. He was texting, and I shocked me that he was smiling as he typed. Was he texting to his girlfriend…or Sam?

"Tell me everything!" Jessica commanded, nearly shoving me down onto the chair. "What happened?!"

"I ran into Jacob, and he decided to buy me dinner…We went out for a walk later and then he drove me home." I smiled innocently, but Jessica wasn't convinced.

"And then he picked you up today…without his tell-all motorcycle?" she asked, milking it for all it was worth.

"Yes, that was a surprise too. He noticed that I didn't have a jacket yesterday, and he didn't think my truck had a good enough heater." The lie came out smoothly, and I twirled my lead pencil absently around with my fingers.

"So, did he ask you out again?"

"He offered to take me to Seattle this Saturday, but it's more of a hanging out as friends thing. I'm helping him pick out some stuff and that's it."

"That's it?! That's it?! Jacob Black is going to take you to Seattle, so it's obviously more than just going shopping and hanging on the port!" She calmed herself, not caring that five others were staring at us. I looked sheepishly down and saw that Jared was no longer texting, but pretending to stare forward. He could probably hear us perfectly clear.

"Besides," Jessica ranted, "you guys make the cutest couple! Oh my God, you both should so go to prom and like enter yourself into the Cutest Couple category! You'd win for sure!" She lowered her voice. "Besides, everyone's scared of what he'll do if they don't vote for him anyways…"

I stared at her, shocked. "What do you mean?"

"The whole Quileutes are so…intimidating. Don't tell Jacob I told you this, but half the grade voted for Leah Clearwater three months ago as Junior Prom Queen because they were scared that she'd hunt down those who didn't elect her."

"I'm sure that's not why they voted for her," I pointed out nicely. I could practically Leah beaming towards me with pride from whatever class she was in.

"Whatever. But the whole male part of the Quileute group is gor-gee-ous, especially Jacob," she said, as if this excused all their flaws. She chewed on her gum sullenly, finally finding a topic to talk about with a snap of her overly manicured nails.

"God, I almost forgot! Has he kissed you yet?"

"Wait, what?!" I flushed the color of my eraser. "I…Wha…It's not like that…" I finally spat out.

"But he took you out to dinner! He let you ride his precious motorcycle! He took you to the park for a little one on one! How is it not like that?"

I bit my lip, unthinking for the first time about what the Quileutes were listening too. "I have this feeling that I…I may like him more than he likes me…But, there's nothing I can do about it…"

Thankfully, Mr. Varner began the lecture and Jessica silenced herself, saving me from more future embarrassment. When the bell rang, I hopped out of my seat, stuffing my books into my bag without bothering to organize them. Jessica watched my actions with wide eyes.

"You're not sitting with us again, are you?"

"Nope," I replied, eager to leave the Welcoming Committee for yet another day.

As we stepped into the hall, I spotted Jacob leaning against the wall across from the door. He smiled, waving at me, and I walked towards him. Jessica trailed me like a lost puppy, and only left when Jacob took his eyes from mine and stared at her with curious eyes. She surrendered to his smothering, and said goodbye to me before quickly backing away.

"Ready for lunch?" he asked. His voice was normal, not as hyperactive as before.

I nodded and he led the way to the cafeteria, absently putting his arm around my shoulders so I wouldn't get lost in the crowd. I struggled to ignore the burning glares from every other student in the room, but still felt the heat rising to my face. We arrived on the lunch line, and Jacob immediately began to load a tray with food, smirking at me as he did so.

"What…Is that all for you?" I asked, reaching for another tray.

"No, of course not! Half is for you, and the rest is for me…" He popped a fry in his mouth when the lunch lady wasn't looking, handing over a crisp bill to the cashier.

Jacob gingerly walked towards the door leading to the picnic tables outside, and I followed him, picking up bags of chips and cookies that fell off the top of his tray as he walked. When we came to the exact same table as we had last time, he pushed the tray towards me as I sat down.

"Take whatever you want," he said with a smirk.

I picked up an orange, stabbing the very top with my nail. The peel seems to slide off as I work steadily, and I wondered where to begin. As I finish peeling it, Jacob snagged half of it and popped it in his mouth, seeds and all.

"So, you can eat anything and not get sick?" I asked in amazement.

"Not anything," he replied, swallowing the last bit of seeds. "Like I can't eat metal or clothing; I guess as long as it's food. For example, I can probably eat that orange peel. I might get a little green later, but yes, I can eat that peel." His eyes lit up. "Hell, I never tried eating a whole watermelon yet. Do you think…?"

I shot him a look and he winded down, mumbling about how he ought to buy a watermelon and try it out. I set the orange down and selected a bag of pizza-flavored Combos. I've always been a sucker for Combos, especially the pizza-flavored type, and I ripped open the package, snacking greedily away at the small snacks.

"So," Jacob said casually, finally starting the conversation, "I don't think your truck's heater is good enough?"

"You somewhat implied that," I replied easily, chewing with care on the pretzel bit stuck between my teeth. "Besides, what did you want me to say then? That you really, really, really wanted to drive me for no reason whatsoever?"

"Good point." He smiled, but it disappeared from his face as he continued to speak. "But can I be serious for a moment, Bella? Something you said to Jessica…well…it's been causing me some grief." I nodded, knowing what was coming. Looking around us, Jacob leaned forward and I followed suit.

"Do you really think you like me more than I like you?" His eyes were sad, and his breath parted just a few inches from mine. He was close enough to kiss, to touch, and I pulled away before things got out of hand. Jacob pulled away robotically, arms crossed in front of his muscular chest.

"Well?" he asked softly.

"Yes," I muttered, flabbergasted. "I honestly think that."

"Well then, you're wrong," he sighed, his voice gentle yet strained. "You think that after I bought you dinner, offered you my company, and took you out for a, and I quote, 'one on one talk' you'd think differently…"

"It's not that," I insisted, my voice slightly harsh. "It's just that…sometimes you seem like you want me to be closer to you. But, at other times, you're pushing me away and hiding stuff that you know are important to our relationship."

"I never said I wouldn't tell you about why," he reminded me. "And, knowing how I truly feel about you, I'd probably spill the beans anyways."

"But I'm not going to run away if you tell me," I said, "And you'd better not leave without a goodbye…"

"Yes ma'am," he snickered. Jacob paused, deep in thought and nibbling on the crust of a large sandwich. I had unknowingly started on the Caesar salad in front of me, and had eaten half of it while enthralled in our conversation. "Can I ask you another question though?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm going to finish the salad. At least, I'm going to try to."

"No, not that," Jacob said hastily. "I was going to ask the real reason for your going to Seattle on Saturday. Is it to escape your pursuers or is it just for fun?"

I stuck out my tongue. "I could ask you the same question."

"Actually, I really do need to pick something out for my father. The clouds probably told him what I'm getting him, but who knows? Besides, the only person who asked me to the dance was Leah."

"Really? Why?"

"As the Junior Prom Queen, she's required to be there with a date. However, most of the boys are scared to even step within five feet of her, so she usually turns to me. But, I'm taking you to Seattle. Jared, Sam, and Quil all got girls and dates for the night, Seth wouldn't go with his sister if you paid him…Embry and Paul would rather fight to the death then go with her."

I smiled thinly. "Are we going to take your motorcycle there?"

"Are you kidding me?" he asked, eyes wide. "My precious baby would get beaten down and kidnapped! My dad's letting me borrow the car that I used this morning for Saturday."

"I'm open to that," I said slowly, "but why can't we use my car?"

"Because it's ugly," he replied, his voice complaining in a mocking tone. I frowned. My truck was not ugly.

"But Charlie will see that my car is in the driveway and he'll wonder where I'm going," I pointed out. I already knew I'd won, and Jacob did too.

"Fine," he huffed, "we'll take your hideous car. And, maybe, if you behave, I'll show you what it's like for me to transform." He flashed his teeth when he said this.

A shiver ran down my spine. "Will you hunt while we're there?"

"What?! No! Not with you right there!" He made a face. "You really want to see me hunt down a deer and eat its…"

The bell rang, cutting him off, and I jumped to my feet. Jacob picked up the empty tray with one hand, and slid it into the garbage hand with another. I still couldn't believe that he had eaten most of the food while I ate only the salad, half an orange, and Combos. He helpfully slipped my backpack over one of his own shoulders, and we started walking towards the school building.

"So, it's a no to me watching then?" I asked.

Jacob shot me a look that looked strangely wolfish, and I immediately shut my mouth.

* * *

Keep reviewing and stick around! Seattle chapters are coming real close...

Read, review, repeat...

~Geneth :P


	11. Complications & Friends

One more chapter to the revised, and totally revisited, Chapter Thirteen. And no, it will not take place in a meadow so get over it :P

Voting for the Cullen Awards will start on July 6th, so tell your friends to vote for G-E-N-E-T-H! :D I'd really appreciate it...

Enjoy! One more chapter to go until Confessions, the infamous Chapter Thirteen! :)

~Geneth

PS I might slow down the updating regularly thing because I have a big photography/movie project I need to edit for school. Never fear, I'll still be here! I'm also going to be playing on the idea of a twisted Edward&Bella fanfic :)

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If I thought the stares at lunchtime was bad, I was in for much more when Jacob and I entered the Biology room. The male half of the Welcoming Committee accusingly glared at me, arms crossed or hands in fists on the table. The female half, however, was ether staring jealously –much like Lauren and her snobby friends– or grinning like idiots, like Jessica and Angela. I stared at my feet, watching my boots and Jacob's neatly laced Converses walk in unison to our table.

Mr. Banner strutted into the room, his eyes gleaming like gemstones, and he plopped his ancient laptop on the table. "I found the most amazing video on ITube the other day," he gushed, opening the laptop and attaching a bunch of wires to the back of it. "You just have to see it!"

"Did he just say ITube?" I murmured to Jacob. "Doesn't he mean Youtube?"

He sniggered and leaned his chair closer to mine. I was almost shocked by his action, and I struggled to keep my face plain. Most of the time, he sat at the edge of the desk, often at the very tip of his chair's legs. Now, he sat with his warm arm almost touching mine, the heat seeping through my thick sweater and warming me as if it had just come out from the dryer.

With his computer now attached to the school's old projector, Mr. Banner flipped off the lights and rolled down a large screen. The title made practically everyone groan. Dogs: More Than Household Pets was at the top in bold letters, and I watched Jacob exchange a look with Quil and Leah. Ignoring us and hitting the play button, Mr. Banner stepped back with a proud look on his face.

I should have been paying attention to the movie, at least for more werewolf reference, but as the strangely childish music burst from the movie's introduction, I became aware that Jacob was sitting only a few inches from me. My fingers twitched, aching to touch his seemingly perfect face or at least hold his hand under the table. Maybe if I just snuggled with him, it would be all right. _No! Are you insane? _I scolded myself. I had just rebuilt my relationship back up with Jacob. I was not going to let it fall to pieces again!

The hour was literally a living hell for me. My hands ached from being in its tight imprisonment and I released them with a sigh. I turned to Jacob, and saw that he too was releasing his own sweaty and stiff hands. He smiled almost sheepishly at me, getting to his feet only a few seconds before the bell rang.

"Time to go," he said, grabbing my book bag from behind my chair and helping me to my feet. As we walked, side by side with Jacob carrying my bag and carefully keeping me close, I couldn't help but notice the different expressions coming from the faces of Jacob's friends. Quil and Embry were mischievous, almost teasing in a way. Sam, Leah, and Paul looked like a mixture between jealousy and sourness. Only Seth, and strangely Jared, seemed genuinely friendly. Seth even gave me –or probably Jacob– a small smile and wave.

"Pretty good video, huh?" Jacob said suddenly, breaking my train of thought.

"Yeah, yeah. I've always been a dog person, anyways," I replied carelessly. Our feet were in perfect sync again as we walked, and I marveled at that as we approached the gymnasium.

He handed me my book bag wordlessly, and carefully placed his hand under my chin. With a steady but gentle hand, he raised my head, forcing me to look in his startling beautiful eyes that gleamed like the dark amber eyes of his wolf self. Jacob leaned forward, and tenderly placed his lips on my forehead with feather light touch. I breathed out a soft moan, and he stepped back, satisfied, before walking away with a hint of a smirk on his face.

Because of his simple touch, I couldn't focus during Gym, sucking even more badly than I normally do. We had moved on to co-ed games of baseball, and my team gave me the job of umpire because I wasn't needed on the field. I called at least five strikes as balls before I was reassigned to benchwarmer, which suited me fine.

Jacob picked me up after Gym as well, and his smile seemed to fill me even more as we walked. As we walked towards Jacob's spot in the lot, I noticed the herd of boys surrounding the Quileute motorcycle line, particularly the silver motorcycle that was decorated with light black stenciling and a LC for the license plate.

"Leah's?" I asked.

"Yep," Jacob replied, opening the door from me. "It's amazing isn't it, that she has boys at her fingertips that would want to touch her motorcycle but not go with her to the Spring Dance?"

"I know how she feels," I said sympathetically, smiling sadly.

"Really? Do elaborate," Jacob insisted as we drove out of the lot.

"Well, I had a lot of friends back in Phoenix, and half of them were guys. They were a lot of fun to hang out with, but on the day of the dance, not one of them asked me to go with them, even as just friends. Some even went stag; they didn't even offer to drive me there or at least hang out with me during the dance."

"Poor sweetie," he murmured, tapping the tips of my finger with his own fingertips. "But, you have lots of friends here…and you told all of those nice boys no." He tsked, sounding almost like my mother.

"Because I have you," I said in a low tone, but I know Jacob heard me anyways. I cleared my throat. "Can you tell me why I can't see you hunt now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, killing the engine. I looked out the window and saw that we were in front of my house. "When we hunt," he continued, "it's almost like watching a real wolf hunt. It's bloody, it's disgusting, and quite frankly, I don't want you to see me sniffing some doe's abdomen to tear up some juicy morsel."

I tried to picture it and shuddered. "Fine, you win," I said, climbing out of the car.

"Thought I would. Oh, and by the way, Bella," Jacob called after me, "It's time to switch it up a bit tomorrow."

"What do you mean?"

"Get ready for Fifty Questions with Jacob Black!" And the car zoomed away before I had a chance to drop my mouth open.

The next morning, after saying goodbye to a tired Charlie who had just come in from the late shift, I skipped down the steps of my house, looking both ways before spotting Jacob's borrowed car down the block. _Figures; the Chief would've had a cow_, I thought absently as I sprinted towards it.

"Morning!" I called in before plopping down into the now familiar passenger's seat.

"Good morning to you too," Jacob chuckled as he nibbled on the edge of some sort of sandwich, most likely the fast-food type. "You look well rested."

"I can say the same for you," I replied, noticing that the usual rings under his eyes were gone. "Did you have some sort of ultimate feast last night?"

"Uh, uh, uh!" he said in a mock-stern tone. "It's my turn today, remember?"

"Oh, right…" I leaned against the seat's headrest. "What do you want to know?"

"What's your favorite food?"

"Hmm…I guess I'd have to say fish."

"Fish?!" he asked, incredulous. "The dieting food for the actresses, the least filling meat of all time?"

"Yes," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Charlie's been bringing home so many that I think I can't remember how beef and chicken and pork taste like…"

"I'll kidnap you one day and take you to the local IHOP," he promised me with a roguish wink. After some thought, he asked me about my favorite music and I responded immediately to my ultimate band weakness.

"Them? You like them?" He opened the top bin of his car, pulling out a CD case from the compartment. I recognized the funky cover art of their second album and the awesome group photo for their fourth album, and I nodded seriously.

"They're really good," I replied.

"I never said they were bad. But, I like them so it made me curious about why you might like them." He pushed the CD through the stereo of the car, and one of my favorites, a jazzy R&B song with simple lyrics, comes on. My lips twitch. I'm dying to sing right now.

Jacob started singing first, his husky voice only slightly off tune but contagious. He smiled at me encouragingly, and motioned for me to join in. I shook my head at first, but Jacob started to sing the chorus and I finally give in. We probably look ridiculous, singing along with a song, Jacob driving while laughing at my attempt to out-sing him and me blushing red but still singing strong.

By the time we got to school, my cheeks were red from laughter and slight embarrassment. We had gone through half of the CD, and somehow started to purposely sing off key just for pure amusement. Jacob let out one last breathless laugh before he turned off the car, and we sit there in the dying heat for a moment. Suddenly, Jacob climbed out of the car, appearing at the other side of me, right next to the door.

He didn't leave me alone to stare after him like yesterday. This time, Jacob walked me to all my classes, asking curious questions that came to mind. Although it was clear to me he was making an effort to stop, his eyes would still smother mine if they didn't get an answer out of me. I sometimes focused on his left ear in order to avoid his hypnotism.

It was drizzling and foggy outside, so Jacob found a table by the window in the cafeteria. Jessica probably was spying on us, but I was too busy trying to control my blushes and facial expressions to notice. We were so caught up with just talking that we were the some of the last ones to leave the lunchroom, and nearly late to class. The only ones later than us were the other Quileutes, who took their time walking and throwing out every piece of garbage before closing up after themselves.

During Biology, Mr. Banner found yet another video while searching on his new friend, and the search engine of Asked. I snickered quietly with Jacob in the back of the room while he loaded up the new footage, but when everything went dark, Jacob angled slightly forward. His movement sent the bursts of urges up and down my body, and I forced myself back again. How long was this going to go on?

When we arrived at the gymnasium again, he turned to me, again putting his hand just under my chin. I looked up, into his amber eyes once more. His eyes were amused, and he leaned down, kissing the very tip of my nose before sauntering away like yesterday. It took me a moment to get the feeling back into my body and, when I did, I sneezed. Somewhere on the other floor, I heard a large group burst into laughter and I blushed, hurrying into the locker rooms to change.

Gym was easy for me today. Coach Clapp wasn't in school today, so the substitute allowed us to just walk around the track until we tired ourselves out. I jogged slowly and silently with Angela, who was as absorbed in her own thoughts as I was. I imagined Jacob running with us, maybe even lapping us because of his inhuman lungs, and that kept me running three miles without getting tired.

I hurried to change when the bell rang, eager to be driven home by Jacob. I flew out the gymnasium door, and nearly bumped right into his tall and heavy frame. He caught me easily with one arm, eyes entertained by my actions. I straightened myself immediately, but several students in the hall still looked at me sideways.

Jacob's questions became unbelievably sweet and more in depth as we started towards Charlie's house. He asked me about my old home in Phoenix, and I described how although it was small, it made me feel at home. It was hard to describe the beauty of the sun, something that was hardly seen here, and also to describe crème brûlée, a food that I had eaten only twice but Jacob had never heard of. Finally, he paused, not saying any of his questions for a long minute.

"Are you done?" I asked, folding my hands quietly in my lap.

"Almost, but your father is a mile away and coming quickly." He smiled, reaching over to open the door for me. His shoulder was almost directly in front of my face, and his scent flew up my nostrils, fogging my brain momentarily. "So unless you want him to see what you're doing on Saturday…" Jacob continued.

"No, it's fine!" I said, grabbing my books and bag off the floor.

He chuckled, and opened his mouth to probably make a sarcastic remark but suddenly, he froze and his jaw clenched.

"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

"A complication," he growled through his teeth. "Charlie's around the corner." I quickly climbed out of the car, running up the steps to the roof hanging to avoid the drizzle that had started to come down from above. "I'll see you tomorrow, Bella," he called to me before his little car zoomed down the street. A silver Volvo was also coming up the street, and as it passed Jacob's car, I saw that Jacob's face had turned grave and hard, unlike his normal friendly self.

The Volvo suddenly pulled into the driveway, and I squinted, trying to see the passengers.

"Bella?" a familiar velvety voice called out.

"Edward! Oh, hi!" I pulled my hood on over my hair, running out into the slight rain to see them. Edward looked as godly and handsome as I had remembered him to be, and he waved at me. Dr. Cullen also appeared from the passenger side, smiling at me. But his smile didn't reach his eyes, and it took me a moment to remember that the Cullens didn't like Jacob or any of the Quileutes. Fear rushed through me. Would he tell Charlie about my budding relationship with Jacob?

"Carlisle, Edward, what a surprise!" Charlie exclaimed, appearing from the cruiser. He was still in his uniform, but was quickly making our way towards us.

"I hope you don't mind," Dr. Cullen said formally, "but Emmett and Jasper are watching the football game at our house and I'd rather watch the ball game also on. Besides, Edward wanted to check up on Bella again too." He winked broadly towards his foster son.

"Gee, Carlisle, thanks for the element of surprise," he muttered under his breath. He looked slightly embarrassed, but his pale skin didn't turn red. Lucky.

"Are any of you hungry?" I asked nervously as I unlocked the key to the house.

"No, we ate before we came," Edward answered. The memory of eating at their house reminded me never to ask them again. Maybe they all had eating disorders.

"I'm starving, Bella," Charlie volunteered, entering the living room with Dr. Cullen trailing him. "Could you heat up something?"

Once I was in the kitchen, reheating day-old pork chops and preparing potato salad, Edward appeared from behind me. "So, how have you been, Bella?" he asked.

"Fine," I replied shortly. I attempted to slice a potato, but my thoughts were jumbled from not only Jacob but also gorgeous Edward and the knife cut off the very top of the potato.

"Here, let me help." He reached over and began to slice the potatoes quickly, with the speed and skill of a culinary chef. I turned away with a smirk, topping the pork chops off with some mushrooms. Edward showed me how I could add some cilantro and scallions to the potato to make the flavor stand out and I laughed gratefully.

"Since when were you the master cooker?" I teased.

Edward shrugged innocently. "Esme teaches us well, I guess." We lapsed in silence, me focusing on the pork chops while Edward topped off the potatoes with some mayonnaise and butter. As Edward passed me to put his knife in the sink, he turned to me. "So, is there something with the car? 'Cause if there is, Emmett and Rosalie will be glad to fix it."

"No, why do you ask?"

"Well, I was just wondering why you haven't driven it in a while. Got a ride from someone?"

"Yeah." Another awkward pause, and I looked up, meeting Edward's golden eyes. They had the same power as Jacob's brown amber eyes and I surrendered. "It was Jacob Black."

He stiffened for a moment, but relaxed. "That's who Carlisle was freaking out over?" he asked with a snort. I must have looked concerned because Edward smiled reassuringly towards me. "Don't worry. Charlie and Carlisle haven't seen each other in a while, so it's like their reunion night. He probably won't say anything about it." His words eased me, but I was still on edge.

I spent the whole evening, pretending to watch the game with everyone else. Edward talked with me during some of the commercials, inviting me back to his house whenever I pleased to. I smiled and nodded, but my main focus was on the two men chatting away during the game. Conclusively, the game ended and Dr. Cullen and Edward got up to leave.

"This was fun, Charlie," Dr. Cullen said with a warm grin. "We'll see you around town." He turned to me, and his eyes grew serious with warning. "Watch out for yourself, Bella."

I managed a cheeky fake smile. "You too, Dr. Cullen." But, as soon as the door closed, my smile fell off my face and I hurried upstairs to do my homework before Charlie bothered to ask me what was going on.

I was super happy when Friday came around, and I woke up by jumping out of bed. Seriously, if I wanted to, I probably would've have begun to belt out some song from High School Musical. But of course, I didn't. I brushed my teeth in a rhythmic motion, and then proceeded to skip down to breakfast. Charlie looked up from the top of his newspaper, confused, but he instantly pacified as I poured him a cup of coffee and shooed him out of the house.

Jacob was at the curb today, but not in his car. Instead, he was sitting on his motorcycle, looking rather smug. I climbed down the steps, and walked over to him with a curious expression on my face.

"My father and some of the Quileute elders are meeting with some of the other tribe elders from another area," he explained, "so I thought we might ride my baby for the day." He held out his spare helmet towards me, and I didn't hesitate putting it on. I was actually avoiding helmet hair, and leaning back and forth with the motorcycle to decrease nausea.

Jacob asked the rest of his questions in school, but this time it was about my family. He asked about Renée, Charlie, and so forth. When we were on the lunch line, I noticed that Jacob grabbed food that he knew I liked. For example, he grabbed two bags of Combos, the last chicken Caesar salad, and a small can of raspberry ice tea. He refused to let me pay for it, even though I knew he was running low on cash, and we headed towards the table near the window. Rain hummed quietly on the windows, and I opened a bag of Combos to dig in.

He took a loud bite of his triple hamburger, nearly making me cringe as he fit almost half of it in his mouth. After he swallowed, Jacob looked at me carefully. "I should've let you drive yourself today," he sighed.

"Why's that?"

"Leah, Sam, Paul and I are all heading out."

"Oh." I frowned. "It's okay; Charlie's house is not far from here."

He frowned back. "I'm not going to let you walk in the rain back to your house, which is actually three miles from here. In fact, Quil offered to drive you back."

"What?!" I turned to the other table, and saw that Quil and Embry were grinning like mad men. Young Seth was shaking his head, and he smiled warmly towards me. Jared looked up from his phone, and half saluted me lazily with a flick of his hand.

"Don't worry, Jared will have them under control. Besides, they've all been wanting to meet you for a while." Jacob took another bite, licking cheese from his top lip. "What time are you going to be ready tomorrow?"

"Umm, the usual time? Charlie's going to leave early to go fishing."

"It's settled then." He opened his mouth to say more, but abruptly stopped and slowly turned towards the Quileute table. I followed his glance and saw that the whole tribe was staring at Leah and Paul, who were glaring at us with matching cold stares. Jacob let out a low growl, and Sam snapped something to them. Leah and Paul reluctantly looked away, listening to their alpha whisper angerily at them.

"Sorry about that," Jacob said, his voice bitter and brisk. "Leah and Paul are…worried about what would happen if…"

"If what?"

"If this doesn't end like a fairytale should." He simpered sadly, and I reached out to touch his flaming hand. The corners of his lips twitched in response, and we sat there, staring at each other.

And, all too soon, someone behind Jacob cleared his throat. I released Jacob's hand and Jacob smiled without turning around. Seth Clearwater, with his matching dark hair and dark eyes, shoved his hands in his pockets, communicating with Jacob through the mind. Jared was no longer on his phone, and his lips were lifted into somewhat of an odd half smile.

"Bella, this is Seth and Jared. Seth, Jared, Bella," he introduced casually without spinning around.

"Don't forget us!" Quil and Embry appeared from ether side of Seth, and I quickly reminded myself that Quil was the one with his hair in a short buzz cut and Embry was the one with cropped black hair.

"Yeah, and these guys," Jacob mocked with an impish grin. The two boys exchanged looks, before holding Jacob and giving him what looked like a hard noogie to the head. When they let him up, and Jacob had fixed his long hair back, he explained that they had also offered to take me to my classes. "I didn't say they could, but they always assume…" he muttered and I smiled politely.

Sam appeared. "Jacob, it's time to leave. Hello, Bella," he said, all in one breath.

Jacob sighed, getting up from the table. He leaned over, kissing the top of my head, and Quil and Embry erupted with hoots and laughter. "So immature," he mumbled under his breath before following Sam out of the room.

Having the boys walk me to class was actually not as bad as I thought. Seth chatted to me like we had been friends for life, and Jared participated with curious eyes, as if he had never seen someone like me in his life. Quil and Embry danced around us, saying, "Enchanté" to every girl they passed, making the rest of us laugh at the poor girls' reactions.

I thought I might be concerned that more people stared because I had four cute boys walking with me instead of one gorgeous boy, but I honestly was having more fun just talking with them. Tribe life was interesting, and Seth weaved together a story about Quil and Embry getting caught causing a bonfire on the beach with horrific results. Jacob made me laugh, and I could see where he got it from and where he had made his mark of humor.

The car ride home was actually in a spacious van with an ironic paw print on the side, and I waved to them until the van was out of sight. I sighed, hopping up each step with a light bounce. I guess I had made friends for life.

And now, in only a few hours, I was going to go with Jacob to Seattle.

* * *

Hehe, and now you have to review in order to see just where Seattle will lead Jacob and Bella!

Hope you liked the little Quil/Embry/Seth/Jared friendship forming with Bella. A good friend of mine suggested the idea and I loved it.

And yes, it was ITube (Youtube) and Luhu (Hulu) and Asked (Ask) :D

Review, even if you just want to say hi! :)

~Geneth


	12. Balancing & Confessions

SURPRISE! HEHE!

I kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking, "Damn it, I've got to finish that chapter." Ideas and more inspiration for it kept coming to the point where I woke up at three and typed till nine in the morning on a Saturday O_O

So yes, because I can barely contain myself, and because I wuv you guys so much, here's the long awaited Confessions chapter :D

~Geneth :P

PS PM me if you find any silly mistakes in spelling or such. I was in such a rush to write that when I got one of my "editors" to look over my work for me, she found that I put "folded over my mom" instead of "folded over my arm" :D So yes, don't say it in a review. PM is much less embarrassing :)  
My explanation of imprinting also sucks... ;)

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For the first time in a long time, I spent nearly thirty minutes deciding what I would wear for the day. I wanted to go casual, but too casual would seem like I didn't care. And, if I dressed up too much, it might seem like I was over-dressing…and what if Jacob was planning to do something spontaneous in Seattle, like hiking or whatnot?

Eventually, I pulled on a light, gray sweater with a white-collared short-sleeved shirt underneath and dark blue jeans paired with black flats. I combed my hair until it was practically butter between my fingers, and I fixed it back with a brown clip that reminded me of Jacob's eyes. I examined myself in the mirror, surprised that I had managed to pull off the casual-peppy look that I only saw in magazines or sometimes in school.

I half-heartedly nibbled on a piece of toast, swallowing without tasting, and left my dishes in the sink to wash when I got home. Charlie wouldn't care; he left his dishes there on a daily basis and would probably think it was his own. Inhaling a quick breath, I threw open the door and stepped into the cloudy day.

Jacob was leaning against my truck, looking more like an Abercrombie and Fitch model than anyone had the right too. He smiled when he saw me, and his expression went from happy to strangely humorous.

"What's wrong?" I asked, walking towards him.

"No, no, it's not you," he chuckled. "We…we match." He motioned towards himself. He had on a sweater that was a shade of gray just darker than mine was with a white polo shirt showing underneath, and had on dark jeans and black sneakers. Every bit of clothing was tight fitting, and I forced myself to look at his face and laugh with him.

After going back to the house and locking the front door, I climbed into the truck, surprised that Jacob was already sitting in the passenger seat, humming along with a song on the radio. "How did you get in?" I asked, skeptical. I felt around in my pockets, surprised that my keys weren't in my pocket, like it had been a few seconds ago.

"You dropped it when you were looking at me," he said, his eyes soft but mocking. I flushed and pulled the car out of park, backing it out of the driveway.

"So, where are we going?"

Jacob reached into his pocket of his jeans, pulling out a small GPS system and attaching it to the dashboard of the car. "Just follow the instructions and you'll be fine," he said reassuringly. The robotic voice began to announce my directions and I drove carefully, being more cautious in the car because of the boy sitting next to me.

"So, where exactly are we going?"

"There's this little place I want to take you; to show you what it's like for me to transform. It's just outside of Seattle, and then we can maybe get something to eat afterwards."

I nodded, navigating the car onto a ramp that began to lead down a sleepy, empty road surrounded by grass and trees. Music from the radio played softly, serving only as background noise, and I listened to Jacob's metronomic tapping as he looked dreamily out the window. Every now and then, he would ask a random question that he forgot to ask the other day. In the end, I admitted to my mother having a fascination with chinchillas and my father forcing me to come up to Forks every two years for fishing trips.

Finally, Jacob told me to stop the car. I pulled the car into a small clearing, shutting off the engine and looking at him curiously. He had already exited the car, and was now proceeding to sniff the air and examine the scenery. I climbed out, and the stale, much warmer air hit me.

"Wow, this is nothing like Forks weather," I commented, gingerly pulling off my sweater and folding it over my arm. Jacob had his back to me, and his sweater was off too.

"We're not in Forks anymore, Toto," he said teasingly as he pulled his polo shirt off over his head. My mouth almost dropped to the floor as he turned around to face me. His body, always underneath clothing, was no longer merely hinted at or partially revealed. Jacob looked like no normal seventeen-year-old boy should look like. Everything –each and every single muscle on his upper body– was ripped and stood out from his frame. Without his shirt, he could pass as a collage student, maybe even a man in his mid twenties.

He saw my awestruck expression, and worry ceased in his forehead. "Are…are you okay, Bella? Bella? Bella?" He waved his hand in my face, and I blinked in surprise.

"W-w-what? Oh, um, yeah. Hey, warn a person before you go all half-naked on me, all right?" My voice cracked as I said the weak attempt at a joke.

Jacob's face reddened, but only for an instant before he spoke. "Oh, sorry. It's…necessary for later. But seriously, is that why you're all…?"

"Shouldn't we be going?" I interrupted, not wanting to be further embarrassed.

A hint of a smirk playing on his lips, Jacob led the way into a small forest. A shiver ran up my spine. The last time I had been in a forest, I had been stalked and nearly assaulted by a group of sailors. I hurried after Jacob, following his swift figure as fast as I could without tripping. Jacob walked with his shirt, and what appeared to be sweatpants, tucked over one arm and he kindly stopped every time I fell behind. He knew where he was going, and he purposely chose a path where it was easy for me to climb and walk.

We spent the first half of the walk in silence, the only sounds that of nature and of the trees rustling in the stale breeze. After a while, Jacob began to fill the silence with stories. He was good –if not better than Seth– at telling the stories, but the one that made me laugh the hardest was about how Jared, Sam, and Quil were all caught on the same night sneaking off the reservation to be with their girlfriends.

The ground began to turn from the dark brown dirt to a nicer chocolate brown. Jacob's smile became extremely wide as we started walking closer and closer to a small light towards the end of the woods. We both stepped out into the light, and I breathed in a sigh of appreciation.

Sunlight burst from a hole of missing trees, forming a perfect little environment near the edge of one of the oceanic ponds. Anemones of every which color floated in the current, catching shells the color of gems and causing them to drift in the water. I bent, touching the very tip of a starfish and it shifted, to my amazement. And best of all, near the edge of the pool was a small sandy beach looking up at the crystal waterfall.

"Oh my God," I said finally.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Jacob said with a grin. He hadn't stepped into the long-lost sunshine just yet, and I sat down on the beach, carefully sitting on my jeans so I wouldn't ruin them. "Promise me something, Bella," Jacob called out.

"What is it?"

"Promise me…" His voice grew soft and he didn't say anything for a moment. "Promise me you won't run away when you see…me." The rest of his words were carefully put. "I'm…I'm going to try and see if I can transform on command. It's been happening a lot lately, not just by seeing someone hurt, but sometimes I'm…I'm like in between human and wolf so please…"

"I promise," I said in a whisper, my heart racing.

He nodded, and then threw a wrapped bundle at me. I caught it out of pure luck, and saw that it was his shirt and sweatpants. Two shoes followed it, landing at my feet. And, with a deep inhale of breath, Jacob closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly, his body began to vibrate and a low growl came from within his chest. His eyes snapped back open, but this time, there were the amber eyes of the russet brown wolf that had saved me.

It's hard to describe how exactly he turned from boy to wolf. Fur literally burst out from his skin, and he crouched on all fours, his ears now wolf-like and his nose muzzle-shaped. The jeans he had been wearing burst into a pile of fabric at his feet, and I could now see why he had brought a change of clothing. And, with another growl, Jacob relaxed his tense pose, now in full wolf form.

He bounded towards the beach, catching me off guard as he pulled himself to a stop right at my feet. Jacob smiled the equivalent of a wolfish grin, and nodded wordlessly to himself. _Whatya think?_

As scared as I was, I grinned. It was exceptional, like seeing say Dracula come into the light for the first time. "I guess you're getting better at it," I said with a small smile and he threw his head back, howling a laugh.

He bent down, curling his large body into a bended shape, and I carefully leaned into him. His fur was warm, almost exactly like his heated skin, and as soft and comfy as a worn out pillow or blanket. A gentle humming sound came from within his throat, and I swear, it sounded almost exactly like the song we had sang together in the car a few days ago. We sat like that for maybe an hour, but it felt like an eternity for me. I wanted nothing else but to just sit there, wrapped in the furriness of wolf-Jacob, but eventually he got to his feet. Gingerly picking up his clothing off the floor, Jacob trotted away before I had a chance to ask him what he was doing.

He reemerged from the forest, struggling to pull on his dark shoes. He looked up, and I couldn't help but wave at him. Laughing, he waved back, jogging over to me and plopping down next to me in the sand. He reached into his pocket, pulling out what was left of his jeans and using it as a pillow for his head as he laid back. Hesitantly, I placed my head slightly on his chest and he stiffened for a moment. Sighing, he let me lay there as we looked up to the cloudy sky.

A small shape floated into view, and I nudged Jacob. "Hey, I know you can only tell the Quileute future on stormy days, but what does that cloud mean?"

He raised in eyebrow, concentrating before he said. "It says that monkeys only fly south in the summer." When I stared at him, confused, he explained that only storm clouds, like cumulonimbus or cumulus clouds, could give proper fortunes. We watched the cloud disappear into the trees before he spoke again.

"Bella." The word sounded like a question, and I looked up at him curiously. "I have to tell you something. But you must promise not to get…upset." Before I could ask why, he continued to speak. "When we were in the park, do you remember the question I couldn't answer, because it was too early for me to speak of it?"

I thought for a moment. "Oh, right," I mumbled.

"Why was the entire Quileute clan angry at you from the first moment we saw you? Well, now that I've practically spilled my guts to you, it's time I finished letting the worms out of the can.

"Two days before you arrived, it was a storm. Not just a normal storm too; one of those storms that's on the verge of a hurricane. The Quileute elders thought that this meant a big fortune was coming, so we went to look at the sky. The cloud revealed to us that someone was coming, someone that was going to threaten to pull the tribe apart. Of course, we didn't understand at the time, but the storm raged on until the next day.

"This time, it revealed to us that the person would come to town and find its way into the life of one of the young wolves. That person was to have brown hair and brown eyes."

I bit my lip. Hurt filled me, but anger soon took over. "So, when I came to school…" I started, my voice shaking.

"We didn't know any better, Bella. Please remember that. When Sam saw you, he could only assume that it was you. The clouds hadn't said when this person was coming, and we were all on high alert, so it seemed like this was how it was going to be."

I understood now why Jacob had seemed so scared, so worried when I sat next to him at Biology. "And Sam was afraid that since you were sitting right next to me, you would be the wolf whose life I might meddle in."

He narrowed his eyes, still protective of the alpha in the group. "He did what was right," he said, voice hardening slightly. "He and some of the elders sent me to Canada, to another tribe, in a desperate attempt to keep me safe. But I was easily homesick, knowing that I was hiding while the rest of my pack braved it out. Seth and Jared didn't see the harm in you, so they volunteered to keep an eye at school while the rest of them guarded the limits of town.

"When I finally came back, I was determined to prove that you weren't the destroyer the clouds had spoken of. And, when I saw you, standing helplessly in front of the soda machine, I didn't even think of how anyone would react. Sam scolded my actions and threatened to send me back to Canada. I was so stubborn and angry at his threat that I made an effort to speak to you. You were more interesting than anyone I had ever met. But yet, Sam warned me not to fall for you, in case the one I was supposed to imprint on came along."

"Imprint?" I repeated, searching the word up in my mental vocabulary.

"Yes, imprint." He was too into his story, so I made a note to ask him about it later. "And then, as I was parking my motorcycle, you were nearly crushed right in front of me. After the incident, my explanation to the elders for forgiveness was that if you had died, that might have been what pulled us apart; seeing a person we somewhat knew die in front of us. They ate the excuse with suspicion, but at the time, all I could think was, 'Oh God, please don't take her now'."

I took his right hand, tracing a pattern in his palm that not only relaxed him, but let me release my previous anger and understand that he truly cared for me. "What happened at the hospital?" I asked nervously.

"I was shocked that you had paid so closely attention, even to my wolf form. Most people don't even notice that we wolves have familiar eyes, or look something like our human selves, but you…You took one look at me and knew who I was. I was surprised, and when I spoke to you later, I forced the anger out because I knew that's what Sam and the rest of my pack wanted.

"But Sam wasn't pleased. In fact, he was furious. He went to the elders, suggesting punishments that made me want to attack him, but my father stopped him and my anger in our tracks. My dad…he insisted that I should take care of my own problems. If you spread word, it would only be me that would be in trouble. He suggested that I leave if you told anyone. The elders agreed, and Sam reluctantly allowed me one more chance.

"I listened to your conversations the next day, equally shocked as my pack that you had kept your word. But I knew that sooner or later, Sam would find another flaw and you would be somehow tied in. So, I forced myself to feign anger and refused to speak to you. It hurt me to do so, and it also hurt my relationship with Sam and my pack so much that I thought, at one point, it would've been better just to kill you. But I couldn't bring myself to dare suggest it."

"W-w-why?" I held his fingers tightly, like it was my last lifeline.

"Bella," he said, his tone lighter. I felt his lips touch the top of my head, and his fingers loosened itself from me and began to rub my hand reassuringly. "I could never do that. I had somehow gotten my heart thrown into the ring, and now I swore I would try and protect you if it was the last thing I could do. The thought of you, lifeless from something I might have caused…" He shuddered, and gently lifted my chin so I looked straight at him. His amber eyes flickered with emotion. "You hold my heart, whether you want to or not. You are the only one I'll ever love."

"I…" My heart pounded loudly, embarrassing me, and I stared back down, unsure what to say. "I…I've always thought you ether hated me or loved me. I…thought it was the first option quite often, but I never knew what would happen if it was the second."

He smiled, somewhat pleased by my answer. "So, the wolf fell in love with the lamb."

"What a stupid lamb. She would've ended up as dinner," I sighed.

"What a stupid wolf. He would've ended up skinned alive by his pack." He chuckled to himself, and a more comfortable silence filled the air. Jacob's chest went up and down in such a way that I felt like I might fall asleep in the contented position.

"Can I ask you something, Jacob?" I asked sleepily.

"Hmmm hmm?" He sounded tired too, near the verge of a nice nap.

"Why…Can you tell me why Sam was afraid you might 'imprint' even though you were…after me?"

His breathing became less relaxed and he exhaled loudly. "It's…complicated."

I waited quietly, forcing myself to stay awake.

"Imprinting…is something that happens to werewolves, and only werewolves. I've never experienced it, so I could never describe it to you, but Jared, Sam, and Quil have. Jared has Kim, and he says it's stronger than true love, so strong that at a point, it hurts to be away from them. You love each other so much that even if you're apart by a few years, like Quil and his girl, Claire, you feel so connected to them that nothing else matters. That person is your soul mate, your significant other, and it's like its your only reason for living. If someone kills the one you imprinted on, you can never ever forgive that person. If like say a fellow wolf brother kills your imprinted one, we would have to fight to the death with only one wolf left standing."

I stared down at our hands, twisted together as if they would never let go. "So…"

"I'm in love with you, Bella, and I admit it. But, my pack, and my own father for that matter, is afraid that I'll break ether your heart or mine if I find the girl that I'm supposed to imprint on…The same thing happened to Sam and Leah."

"W-w-what?" I sputtered, unsure of what I heard.

"Yeah, Sam and Leah used to date," Jacob said ruefully. "They were so in love that they even were considering getting married while in college. The elders approved and gave their blessing. Two werewolves falling for one another might mean a greater chance of genetics affecting a newborn for another shifter. But then, when Sam went to meet Leah's extended family for the first time, he met her cousin, Emily, and nothing else mattered anymore."

"Oh my God, poor Leah," I murmured. I tried to picture her in my mind, sitting at the table in the cafeteria. Come to think of it, she always sat at the opposite end of the table from Sam, eyes watching him but almost apathetic towards him.

"So you see," Jacob said slowly, "Sam didn't want me to go through his hardships the same way. Leah doesn't want you to get your heart broken like she had too –and believe me, she's still bitter to this day. Recently, however, when I started…thinking about you, and she was able to use the telepathy of the pack to hear me…" His hand twitched, and stopped rubbing mine. "She's rude to me now," he noted, "and she once threatened that if I ever brought you to the reservation, that she's going to ether do something juristic or she's going to go into lockdown mode."

A shiver ran through me, and I sat up, disturbed. Jacob followed, watching me sit there dumbly. I quivered, and Jacob smiled sadly. "I'm sorry if I scared you," he apologized, and he gently pulled me into his chest, hugging me. I was surprised by his action, yet a ripple of pleasure shot through me. Willing myself not to cry, I placed my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes.

I'm not sure how long we just sat there, him holding me with my head on his shoulder. The heat that usually shot off his skin was actually abating, soothing me and making me feel closer to him. Perhaps it was an hour, maybe two, but I couldn't fixate on anything but his casual touch and his arms wrapped around me.

Eventually, too soon of course, he released me. "I think we might have to go," he said softly, motioning towards the dying sunlight. I hadn't realized how quickly time had passed; I never could when I was with Jacob. He got to his feet, helping me up, and I wiped down the backend of my jeans.

Jacob's eyes suddenly lit up. "Hey, I got an idea that'll get you back to your truck much faster than it took us this morning."

I looked at him warily. "How so?"

He flashed his warm smile. "Have you ever ridden a wolf before, Bella?"

My heart thudded loudly in response. Ride him? Like…like you ride a horse? I still acknowledged him as a human, and now he wanted me to consider him an animal that I could ride on for my own personal enjoyment?

"It'll be like me giving you a piggyback ride," he said easily, pulling off his shirt and pitching it to me. He disappeared into the forest, and his sweatpants and shoes were flung onto the beach. A low hum came from the forest and, with a loud noise that sounded like the wolf version of a laugh, Jacob reemerged from the forest, his tail swishing along the forest floor.

I stepped towards him, his clothing in hand. I carelessly folded them, and stood in front of Jacob, unsure of what to do. The wolf motioned towards his back, and I gingerly climbed on it, like a first-time rider climbing onto a horse. With another wolfish laugh, he started to run into the forest.

It was much faster than a horse, let me tell you that. In fact, I think it was faster than most cars, just shy of being faster than a bullet. There was barely any sound from his feet touching the floor, and I tried to remember the National Geographic episode about wolves. Most can go at maybe 35-40 miles per hour. How fast were we going now? _Oh right_, I thought, wanting to slap myself on the head. Jacob wasn't your average wolf.

To be completely honest, riding on Jacob was like riding a super fast roller coaster. Instinct told me to shut my eyes and hang on tight, but I was too terrified to even half-shut them. My hair flapped behind me, and I hugged Jacob's neck as if I was going to strangle him.

Fifteen minutes of Jacob running equaled the near two hours we had hiked to the ponds. He wasn't even breathing heavily as he skidded to a stop a foot away from my truck, and he turned his head slightly, a smile twisted on his furry features. _Pretty cool, huh?_

"I…I need to sit down," I mumbled, my voice a near gasp.

And ever so promptly, I let go of my hold on Jacob's neck and fell onto the ground, landing on my back with a thud.

Jacob stared down at me, his face practically begging me to let him at least snicker. When I showed no emotion, he shook his head and ambled away, going into the bushes to change. I slowly got up, feeling the large wet mark on my backside, exactly where my sweater had been. Opening it, I saw what looked like an ugly spinach stain across the collar of the shirt. Great, another thing I had to hide from Charlie.

I plopped down in the empty trunk space of the back of my car, scraping off as much as I could with my fingernails. My nails now represented that of the Loch Ness Monster, and I let out a groan. A rustle came from the bushes, and Jacob appeared, the buttons on his polo shirt left open and gaping.

"Something wrong?" he asked casually.

"My life," I said sarcastically, not looking up at him.

"Well," he said, his voice soft and a near whisper, "maybe I can help you with that." I suddenly realized what he said, and I stopped breathing altogether.

Very gently, like the times at school, he placed his hand under my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes and get lost in the pools of amber. He leaned forward but, this time, he wasn't aiming for my forehead or my nose. This time, he lightly pressed his scorching hot lips to mine.

His touch seemed to release all of the feelings I had towards him. The urges that had occurred every time I sat near him in Biology broke through, and my mossy fingers knotting in his hair, pulling him closer. He responded by crushing me to his chest, his tongue gently tracing the top of my lip.

We broke apart, both of us gasping for breath. My hand fluttered to my chest, feeling my heart beat faster than a beating drum. Jacob sat on the others side of the trunk, also inhaling and exhaling quickly but a small smile playing on his lips.

"We should be going," he said, motioning towards the darkening sky with a flourish. I hopped off the trunk, and nearly fell on my face again. Jacob was next to me in a flash, holding the edge of my elbow with a full-blown smile on his face.

"Maybe I should drive. You look like you're going to faint any second now," Jacob said matter-of-factly. "Was my kissing that good? Or perhaps it's still the experience of running with a wolf?"

"I am not going to faint," I replied hotly, and brushed his hand off my elbow. But, as I walked towards the driver's door, Jacob moved the truck slightly to head for the passenger's door and I tripped.

"See? See? See?" Jacob said triumphantly, practically skipping towards my side of the car. "Now, if you please…" He held his hand out.

I crossed my arms against my chest, glaring at him. "Fine," I sighed, dropping the key reluctantly into the palm of his hand. "But take it easy. My car doesn't go as fast as your pretty motorcycle."

"So you admit it's pretty?" When I didn't reply, his new smile appeared on his face, threatening to break it in half. "I've seen prettier," he volunteered in my ear, nuzzling my neck with the lightest of touch. My body shook from my hairline to my toes.

"And besides," Jacob continued, his breath tickling my collarbone, "My motorcycle can't kiss me back."

* * *

Alas, ends another chapter. Up next is one of my favorites, the Edward&Bella (or Jacob&Bella in this case) bed-talking scene :)

Review! All criticism will be taken into consideration...  
and then thrown out into the garbage can :)

Only kidding. I do take your criticism into consideration in real life though :D

~Geneth


	13. Sleep Talking

Yay, its my next favorite part, Bella and Edward/Jacob talking in Bella's bed!

You know, if you think about it, it's kinda scary because they've known each other for like what a few months (help me out there...) and then she's letting him stay in her bed, despite the fact that he might accidentally poke her at night and she'll burst into a million pieces :D

So, without further adieu, here's them...talking! By the way, this is actually one of the chapters where I'm going tread away from the original story line to add a new twist. Hope you like it!

~Geneth

* * *

The drive home was incredibly calming, Jacob holding my hand as he expertly drove my car. He kept his eyes on the road, but I caught him on numerous occasions just staring at me and not at the car in front of him. The song we had been listening to ended, and I leaned forward to change the station when the station's resident weather man began to chime in about the clouds and sun.

Jacob listened intently, sighing when he heard that there was a storm coming in two days. "That was supposed to be our hunting night," he muttered, whacking the steering wheel. "Now we have to go watch the sky? Damn it…Sam's going to be pissed…"

I stared at him inquiringly. "Do werewolves really have to eat that often?"

He smirked at me, eyes slipping to and from the road. "When we eat a normal human portion, it's like we're practically starving ourselves. It fills maybe one eighth of our stomachs. Most packs are forced to go hunting every day, but in the Quileute pack, we can go for a couple of days as long as we eat every hour or so. When people stare, we just say we have high metabolism."

I nodded slowly, focusing on our hands for a moment. "Jacob, can I ask you a…personal question?"

"Depends on how personal," he replied easily.

"How long have you exactly been a werewolf? Is it in genetics?"

"I've been a werewolf all my life, but transformation only occurs when a descendant of a werewolf is ether around the enemy, vampires something like that," –he shrugged as he said this– "or when we reach a certain level of maturity."

"So, was your father a werewolf too?"

Jacob looked at me with wide eyes. "My dad? A werewolf?" He choked a snort, turning the car onto another ramp. "As far as I know, none of the current pack members had parents who were werewolves. It's always from ether the grandparents or the far descendants. The whole tribe didn't even know about the shifting and such until a year ago. In fact, some families still don't even know. We try and limit it to the werewolves and those they imprint on."

My confusion seemed to deepen, and I tried to focus on his words. "But if they didn't even know about it, then how was it all discovered?"

"I can see we're not going to be getting anywhere," he observed. "Maybe it would be better if I told it in a story form? You seem to like that better, anyways."

I pretended to frown, hitting him on the arm. It probably felt like a piece of dust had fallen on him, and it hurt my knuckles, but it still felt good. "Fine," I said, switching off the radio, "speak."

"Well, it all started with Sam. Sam's grandfather had died way before he was born, and his parents were divorced when Sam was around two. Sam's father moved off the reservation, not really caring for the family, and Sam grew up with only the other fathers in the tribe for support. But no one could prepare him for his first taste of transformation.

"He started to experience the signs, and not the normal puberty signs or whatnot. I'm talking about his temperature increasing to over one hundred and seven degrees, his hair growing at an alarming rate, even the way his body was shooting up like a beanstalk and hardening into muscles without much effort. And then, when he was out by himself, struggling to deal with everything that was happening to him, he transformed.

"Of course, being the first and only one at the time, Sam thought he had gone insane. He left town in wolf form, fearing the persecution and rejection from not only the tribe, but the rest of the town. He tells us it took him two weeks to finally calm down and try and shift back.

"When he did come back, more trained and disciplined, he wouldn't talk to anyone about where he had gone, what he had done. Everyone thought he had performed some terrible crime and he only came back when the whole town forgot about it. After being by himself for so long, Sam didn't really care much for it, but he had to tell someone. So, he met with Quil's grandfather, Old Quil if you would, and tried to speak as casually as possible. And, as nonchalantly as possible, he shook Mr. Ateara's hand."

I stared at my hand with Jacob's, feeling the warmth that I was now strangely used to. It didn't bother me now, but I remembered how I felt when I first merely brushed his face. The burning sensation of my memory caused me to shiver and Jacob smiled before continuing.

"Old Quil immediately consulted the elders, who all agreed that Sam had the right to know who, or what, he was turning into. Only a few knew about transformation, and had seen in done in front of them, so of course they argued for quite some time. Sam finally met with them, and he accepted this, knowing that the rest of his pack would soon fall into place. We're not entirely sure what suddenly caused us all to transform, to all undertake the transformation when thirty years ago, no one even could remember how shifting worked."

"And you? Was your transformation period hard for you?"

"Not as hard as I thought it might be. I lived a sheltered life from the pack, growing up to fear Sam and anyone who suddenly would never leave his side. Now, I'm one of those people. Sam supported me when I started shooting up and hitting my head on low ceilings and, although he's struggling with it, he's trying hard to support us right now."

"He sure doesn't act like it," I mumbled.

He sighed. "Believe me, Bella. He's trying really hard right now. Emily's been talking to him, and he's sort of turning around. But Paul and Leah…" Jacob shuddered theatrically, and suddenly pulled the truck to a stop. I peeked outside and saw Charlie's house, the porch light on. And, right on cue, my stomach let out a loud grumble, equal in sound to Jacob's wolf growl.

"God, we forgot to get something to eat at Seattle," I sighed, taking the key from Jacob's open hand and climbing out of the car. "Weren't you supposed to get like a gift for your father?"

He slapped his head. "Oh shoot, you're right! Oh well, might as well pick up something from the ninety-nine cent store anyways…" He was already at the front door, reaching under the welcome mat for the spare key and unlocking the door with ease.

"How did you know that it was there?" I gasped, snatching the key from him and putting it back into its hiding spot.

"Don't be offended, or think I'm perverted, but I…I listen to you." He smiled sheepishly, closing the door after me.

"Listen?"

"Wolves have enhanced hearing, remember? It never feels right to spy on you, especially when there's a bunch of werewolves on my back, so sometimes I just…listen when I get home. Once or twice I heard your doormat move, so I can only assume…"

"Must've been Charlie," I replied, opening the fridge and pulling out day-old fish filet. "Do you want any?" I asked politely.

"Ooh yes, please. Anything cooked by you must taste good" He licked his lips, concentrating. "Give me…five!"

"Five?!"

"Hey, a man's got to eat. Besides, if I have to wait of hunting real food, I might as well try and satisfy part of my stomach, don't you think?" He loaded seven filets onto a piece of foil before popping it into the microwave oven.

I studied him. "Do you listen to me all night?"

"Hmm?" He had been hungrily watching the food slowly crisp in the small oven, and he looked up when I spoke. "Oh, only sometimes. I try not to invade your privacy with your father. But, sometimes I can't fall asleep, so I listen to the sound of you sleeping and that's like my lullaby. Besides, you're quite entertaining when you sleep."

I spun him around, my eyes wide and blood pounding in my ears. "W-w-what…Why am I entertaining in my sleep?"

"You…" His eyes flickered towards the fish, then back to me. "You talk," he surrendered. I looked down, ashamed and he sighed, pulling me into his arms again. "Don't worry," he said softly, "It's comforting to know that someone likes my name as much as you do."

I broke the embrace and stared at him in horror. "How many times?"

Before he could respond, he froze. "Your father's here, within a ten block radius. Bring me some of that fish, would you?" He raced off at a speed that no human could possibly achieve, and I quickly turned off the microwave oven, throwing them into a container and hiding it in the nearest cupboard.

"Bella?" Charlie called out thirty seconds later. He closed the door behind him and poked his head into the kitchen. "Oh, there you are. You got dinner done already?"

"Yep," I said, my voice overenthusiastic. "I just thought I'd heat up something and since you were coming home at this point I thought why not I mean I know Dad's going to be hungry so I popped those two filets into the oven thing which is like a whole oven in a tiny package and I just cannot get over the fact that…"

"Bella, breathe!" my father laughed, sitting at the table and pulling a piece of his fish off with his finger. "I know it's a Saturday, but you don't have to be all…hyperactive." Realization crossed his face. "You're not going out tonight, are you?"

"What? Don't be silly…" I stressed the "e" sound in "silly", putting my own dish down and cutting up the fish with quick and easy forkfuls. I finished my food in less than five minutes, and Charlie raised his brow as I chugged down my glass of water and rinsed the dish quickly with ease.

"Well, I'm going to go to sleep now I'm a little tired but anyways good night, Dad!" As I left the kitchen, I could feel Charlie's stare boring a hole in the back of my head. He was probably going to be checking on me tonight, maybe even listening for the window to open and to see a little bed sheet rope come down.

I opened my bedroom door, looking around blindly in the darkness. "Jacob? Jacob?" I said, my voice soft enough for my father not to hear but definetly loud enough for my werewolf friend to hear. I reached over to my nightstand, turning on the small lamp. Jacob was sitting on my bed, his large frame managing to blend into my bed, and his face was right next to the light. He blinked in surprise, and I did an awkward hop backwards, landing on my butt.

"Are you okay? Did I scare you?" he asked, alarmed but amused, as he got up and slowly picked me up, his arms scooping me up as easily as you would a small child. He climbed back into my bed, and then arranged me next to him. I managed a nod, leaning my head into his arm. I suddenly remembered my unwashed hair, and my not-yet-brushed teeth. If he was going to kiss me tonight, or even be as near to me as he was now, I ought to do something about it.

"Hey, can you give me a second? I need to use the bathroom," I said, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

"Sure." He gave me a light push off my bed, and I climbed out of the comfortable position.

"Don't move, or Charlie's going to think I'm in two places at once." He rolled his eyes, and I grabbed my pajamas and left the room. I tried to be speedy with my shower and brushing my teeth, but it honestly could not be rushed. After toweling-dry my hair and making sure my teeth had no fish stuck between it, I pulled on my comfortable sweats and old baby-blue tee with a paw print on it. Oh, the irony of it all.

I entered the living room, finding my father sprawled out in front of the couch with a bowl of potato chips next to him. The football game was on, and he groaned as a player was tackled to the ground. "G'night, Dad." He gave me a quick surprised look-over, and then muttered his farewell as the game stared up again.

I took the container of filets from the cupboard before I went upstairs, entering my room and closing the door as quickly as I could. Jacob was still on my bed, reading a book that must have come from off my dresser. I looked at the cover. A sappy looking cover with a pair of pale hands holding an apple, with spirally font across it. Apparently, it was a New York Times best seller, and the ancient librarian had recommended it. I hadn't wanted to hurt her feelings, so I had taken it.

"I brought you dinner," I joked, handing him the container and sitting back on my bed. He sat up, folding the corner of the page, and then cast the book aside, his attention back to me. Jacob took the container into his large hands and popped a whole fillet in his mouth as if it was nothing.

"Fanks," he muttered through a mouthful of breadcrumbs and fish. He swallowed, and said with much more manners, "I was right; you are a good cook." He put the container on the floor, and leaned back onto my pillow, gently pulling me down with him. We looked up at the ceiling for a while, listening to sound of both of us breathing in synchronization.

I suddenly felt Jacob warm hand encircle my waist, absently pulling me closer to him. I leaned in, turning my head so, instead of lying on Jacob's arm, I am now half on his broad chest. He chuckled.

"It's much easier for me to be casual with you," he says to no one in particular, "especially since I'm pretty sure you're not going to ruin my life or the tribal life of the Quileutes anytime soon."

"Why…" I was about to ask him a question about that comment, but he had slowly began to move his fingers from my earlobe, under my chin, and then to the opposite ear. I shook my head, focusing on my train of thought and not on his gentle touch. "Why do you think it's easier?"

"Well, for starters, I'm not afraid of you anymore. The talk we had at the pools was...helpful. You're just another human being, and Sam made the wrong choice when he declared that you were the person here to ruin us." He paused, chewing quietly, and then spoke again, this time his tone light and charming. "I've never fallen for a human ever since I've became a wolf. I had my small girlfriends when I was entirely…human, but as a wolf, I never thought I would fall in love when the person wasn't my imprinted one."

Jacob's face went grave abruptly. "But that's the big problem," he sighed, eyes gazing dreamily into the space surrounding us.

"Which is the big problem? The fact that if your true one comes along, that we'll both get hurt, or the fact that the one who the clouds predict is coming hasn't yet been here?"

He let out a breathless laugh. "You're beginning to sound like Sam or my father." Jacob lightly brushed my hair out of my eyes, fiddling with a strand. "I suppose it's both. The clouds have never been wrong, so that someone is coming, just not yet. But, as for the other issue, Sam says that in the other tribe located in Canada, some of them are at least forty-years-old and they still haven't found their imprinted ones. They aren't letting it stand in their way though; they're living fruitful lives with spouses who aren't their exact soul mate."

"So we could be, say, married with children without you imprinting on anyone else." The silence was awkward now, and Jacob didn't say anything. "Hey, if we were both in our deathbeds, and this young doctor assistant came in and you imprinted on her, does it technically not count as anything because you're old then, right?"

My attempt at an icebreaker worked; Jacob shook the bed with his silent laughter. "I guess. But, Bella, you have to remember that I am a werewolf and there's a little…effect on our aging."

I twisted around to stare at him. "You didn't tell me about that. What effect?"

"Well, when we haven't imprinted on anyone, we can't properly continue our life cycle because of some destiny to be with our perfect half. So, instead of aging like every other human mortal on the planet, we don't properly age until we find that one thing that'll jumpstart the engine."

"So…since I'm not your perfect half, you're never going to get older?" I was going to turn old while he got to prance around, forever seventeen trapped in a twenty-year-old body, until he found the younger girl who would steal him from me.

"Bella, let's not think about it right now." He tilted my chin up, kissing my forehead. "I'm sorry I brought the topic up." Tenderly, he hugged me to him and I lost all of my anger in an instant.

"So, are you going to sleep here tonight?" I asked innocently.

"Only if you want me to. It'll be hard to leave you here, but it'll be harder to hide when your dad comes up and sees me on the bed with you…" He suddenly stopped, and was off my bed in a split second. "Speak of the devil, and the devil will come," he muttered angrily under his breath as he slid into a fetal position and rolled under my bed.

"What are you doing?"

"He's coming up!"

I quickly relaxed my body, pulling my quilt up to my chin and slamming my eyes shut just in time for the blinding light in the hallway. Through half-closed lids, I saw Charlie look at me sleeping and scan the room. The window was shut firmly, the drapes drawn, so he shrugged and closed the door. A few seconds later, I heard his door close and the sounds of him getting ready for bed.

Jacob reappeared, lifting me up with one hand so that he could climb back in. "Hey," he said cheerfully, "long time no see." I rolled my eyes, and he chortled softly. "By the way," he added, "I know you don't want to talk about it anymore, but I thought of a reason why werewolves might freeze until they meet their imprinted ones."

I sighed. I might as well be educated, in case we were to be more serious and he suddenly met the one he was "really" supposed to be with. "Okay, why?"

"Well, sometimes werewolves will imprint on someone…younger than them, like a nineteen-year-old werewolf might be made for a three-year old, but only because that three-year-old is going to grow up to be the soul mate the werewolf is looking for. I mean, you may not know this, but Quil and Claire have a huge age difference."

"Really?"

"Yep. After Quil completed his full transformation, about a six months ago, he went to go talk to Sam at Sam's house. Emily had her nieces over, and Quil saw Claire and never looked away. Claire was thirteen then."

"Wow." A thirteen-year-old girl with a then sixteen-year-old boy? It was somewhat creepy, and I shivered, but decided to ask questions instead. "So is Quil going to grow normally now ?"

"Not exactly. He won't undergo all of the werewolf shooting up and growing wider, because that only happens when we haven't imprinted and our bodies are prepping us for a non-aging process, but he'll only officially start showing his age when Claire hits about fifteen. He has a few months before she turns fourteen, and then a year left to look like the rest of us."

"How about Sam and Emily, and Jared and Kim?"

"Jared and Kim are in the same grade, and she was actually born only a few months after him. Next month, Jared's going to age with her. Sam and Emily are also the same age, so it's fine for them." He halted, studying the quilt that covered us for a moment. "I sometimes think of what would happen if Sam and Leah were together. Two werewolves, imprinting on each other. It would be pretty cool."

On cue, my clock made a soft beeping noise, announcing that it was one in the morning. Jacob looked at it, shaking his head with an amused smile on his face. "We should probably get some sleep," he commented, proceeding to hum the song we both liked, our song.

"But I have like a thousand questions still…"

"We have time, Bella," he pointed out. "Tomorrow's a whole new day, and the day after hasn't even come yet."

"But then I'll forget them!" When he stared me down with his hilarious deadpan expression, I exhaled loudly, pretending to be annoyed. "Fine, one more question then?"

"Okay then, one more. But, if I fall asleep in the middle, just tickle me under my chin and put a piece of fish in my mouth."

I laughed lightly, and then fidgeted with a string on my blanket. "Can…can…oh, forget it…"

"Hey, if I'm staying up to the wee hours to listen, you might as well tell me."

"Well, I was going to ask…" My cheeks heated, and I wondered if he could feel the sudden warmth on his hands. "Is it only possible to become a werewolf through genetics? Can someone, for example, be bitten by a shifter and then become one of them?"

"Someone's been reading way too many fantasy and horror books," he teased. "Like that book you left on your dresser. The only interesting guy in that book is the dude named Jacob, and it's not just because his name is mine." He cleared his throat. "And now, to answer your question, the elders did some experiments and found that someone could only become a werewolf if it's in their blood. And I don't only mean genetically wise."

Realization slapped me in the face. "So if I had a cut and you had a paper cut, and a little blood squirted out…"

"It would only slightly heal your cut. A great deal of blood has to be transferred, to the point where the giver of the blood might only have half of their original blood. Let's say you got a gash on your leg, and I bled a little on it. As soon as it merely passed through your skin, your leg would start to heal, using my blood to help heal it. But, as soon as it can't find anymore of my blood, it'll stop. In a way, we can use werewolf blood to heal everyone in the world."

So it was possible to create more of them. I opened my mouth to ask another question, but an embarrassingly loud yawn came out instead.

Jacob looked at me, his eyes full of amusement. "I think we should both go to sleep, especially if you're going to keep me up all night with your sleep talking. I'd probably not fall asleep until later then."

I sat up again. "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you. How often do I…talk about you?"

"Honestly, Bella, you're like a kid at school who asks questions every five minutes." I stared him down with my own attempt at his mock serious face, and he rolled his eyes. "When I first came back, and I made an attempt to talk to you, that was the first time I listened to you babble in your sleep. It was mostly talk about home, about random things. I think one time you said, 'Mike, get the hell away from me!' or something like that." He chuckled merrily at this. "And then, the night after I first had lunch with you, you didn't say anything for ten minutes before letting out this big breath of air and saying, 'God, you eat soo much!'

"And then, after our little dinner in Port Angeles, I couldn't sleep because of, well, you. So, I listened to you and was surprised when you suddenly said, 'Jacob! Jacob, come back…' and then went silent for the rest of the night. I would've thought you were dead if I hadn't heard you still breathing…"

"How about now? Do I still speak a lot?"

"Yes. But, like I told you before, it's mostly my name or the words wolf, shifter, or Quileute." He hugged me close again. I placed my head back on his chest, and through his thin shirt, I could feel his heart beat. It was stronger than mine, beating louder and faster than any normal human, but comforting nonetheless.

"And now that I've answered you, it's time we both finally winded down." And, with the voice of an angelic alto boy, he began to hum our song.

I closed my eyes, hoping that he wouldn't disappear when I woke up.

* * *

Hehe, now Bella knows that she might possibly become a... WEREWOLF! (even though StephMeyer suggests that its not possible without genetics) And you can't blame me for prepping the story for [perhaps] BREAKING DAWN?! **I have another comment, but its on the bottom in case you haven't read BD yet :)** Plus, in like Eclipse and New Moon, it gives Bella something to hope for :P

Review! Tell me if you like my twist or not. Also tell me if you find a weird typo somewhere here. I'm famous in my family for doing so. In fact, I actually put (for the first time I wrote the chapter) "a big breath of hair" instead of "a big breath of air" ;P

Get ready for the Meet The Cullens (or Quileutes in this case) chapter, coming up soon :D

~Geneth

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YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER A SPOILER ZONE!

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**As of right now, I'm not sure if I want Bella to carry Jacob's baby. I mean, genetically speaking, how could I describe it?**


	14. The Quileutes

Quileutes, meet the Quileutes, oh da da da do da do da de (I'm tone-deaf; please ignore me :D)

Yay, I had so much fun writing that when I reviewed it for editing mistakes, I noticed that I left out like three wolves O_O  
Oh well, they're all here now.

Thanks so much for all your reviews! I'm really thankful for all those readers that stuck to this story from the start, even when I postponed it for like a month... :P Also, thanks for your suggestions with my BD dilema. I might have like a contest when I'm writing Eclipse for someone to help me co-write some chapters of BD: Reversed Roles :) But I'm not sure yet.

Oh yeah, it just occurred to me that in my other author's note, the damn site (sorry; i wuv you :D) wouldn't let me put up a link, so whatever. Don't even look it up. You know why? Because apparently it was taken down when it was right in the middle of nominations. I mean come on; the people could've at least waited for the contest to be over, right? :D

Sorry; I'm ranting again. Enjoy!

~Geneth

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I awoke covered in the damp sheets of my bed, sweat trenching my forehead. Wait a second…why were my sheets wet? Was it that time of the month? No, I still had two weeks…And why the hell was I sweaty and sticky then? I sat up in my bed, pulling my stringy hair away from my face. My sheets were shoved to the corner of my bed, unneeded by my body…and the fully clothed boy next to me. Oh yeah, Jacob was sleeping over.

He looked so peaceful when he slept. His hair fell into his face, giving him the look of casualty, and his face was extremely relaxed, no emotion within it. His legs were curled nearly to his chest, to make room for his entire body in my tiny bed. If he had let his whole body stretch out, his feet would have went over the bed and possibly to the wall one foot away from the foot of my bed.

Very gently, I poked him in the side of his stomach. He didn't respond to it, so I dug my knuckle into his side with a little more force. Jacob let out a grunt, turning over so that his face was right next to mine. He opened his eyes, blinking sleepily before smiling at me.

"Good morning," he yawned. "How'd you sleep?"

"Warm and toasty." I wiped a bead of sweat from my neck, wanting nothing more than to go shower so Jacob wouldn't see me with pit stains and yucky hair.

He stared at me curiously. "Did I do that?" Jacob frowned. "My bad," he murmured, leaning into to kiss my forehead.

I pulled away. "Believe me; you don't want to get in there. It's like a nasty swimming pool up there." I instead kissed his cheek, hoping my lips were at least not sweaty. "I need to use the bathroom…"

"I'll wait," he said, getting out of my bed and stretching. "And don't worry about Charlie. He left an hour ago, after checking in your room and not finding me under the bed again."

I nodded, and then fled from the room. I peeked at myself in the mirror as I peeled off my drenched pajamas and threw them in the laundry hamper. The person in the mirror was unrecognizable, her cheeks a shade of red so dark that it resembled that of a rotten tomato. Her hair was parted in messy clumps, and sweat coated her face like an extra layer of skin. I made a face, and the mirrored image mimicked me.

My shower was longer than usual. I was hoping to spend the whole day with Jacob, which meant I would have to smell nice for him while at the same time not sweating. After getting the sweat and dirt out from my hair with two different shampoos and conditioners, and scrubbing my body with several different smelling soaps and moisturizers, I pulled on my bathrobe and carefully walked into my room.

Jacob wasn't there. Instead, my bed was neatly made, the pillows puffed and the quilt folded near the foot of my bed, and a piece of paper laid onto of my library book. The front of the note had a paw print on it with a smiley face next to it. I unfolded it, reading Jacob's messy scrawl.

**Bella,**

**I went back to my house to change my clothing. I don't want to look like I spent the night (because the neighbors would think I was crazy). Wear something nice and I'll see you when I get back. I'll drive the car back, so I'll be back in maybe ten minutes. Don't drown in the toilet bowl or whatever.**

** ~Jacob **

I smiled, and opened my drawer of clothing. What could I wear? He had written wear something nice…but what would be considered "nice" but not too dressy or casual? This was like déjà vu of me before we went to the pools all over again! I debated about wearing the white shirt that I had worn in Port Angeles, but decided not to. Besides, it was a bit wrinkled from my careless folding.

By the time Jacob returned, I had settled for creamy white Capri pants and a royal blue blouse with fashionable yet comfortable puffy sleeves. I looked down at him from the top of the stairs, seeing that he had swapped his polo and sweatpants for a green and white striped shirt and dark jeans. I slid down the banister of the stairs, something I hardly ever did because I was such a klutz. I actually made it to the bottom, but I couldn't stabilize my landing and ended up in Jacob's open arms.

"Breakfast time?" he asked hopefully, eyes twinkling with excitement as he carried me, with one arm supporting my legs and the other holding my neck, into the kitchen.

I untangled myself from him, standing upright in the kitchen. "Sure. What do you want?"

"What do you got?"

I opened the freezer, lifting the few dozen pieces of fish out of the way so I could see if any breakfast treats were in the back of the fridge. Finding a bottle of syrup there, I reached over to a separate cabinet, pulling out a box of pancake mix. "Pancakes okay?" I asked, shaking the box for emphasis.

"Sure. Give me like ten or so."

As I was making the pancakes in the frying pan, humming to myself while I did so, Jacob fetched some plates for us from a cupboard above my head. His scent stunned me for a moment, but I forced myself to focus on flipping the pancakes over. I didn't want to end up with a burn…He looked more awake, and the bags under his eyes were nearly gone from his perfect face.

"Did you have a good night sleep?"

"A very good night sleep," he grinned. "I didn't have to strain my ears listening to my favorite lullaby. In fact, you started talking a bit earlier than usual." His smile grew wider, and he placed the plates on the counter with a small clank.

"Did I say anything that might embarrass myself?"

His eyes grew soft, and he closed the cupboard quietly. "You said, 'Jacob, my Jacob' at first, but at around three in the morning, you said you loved your Jacob."

I leaned my head to the side, ending up on Jacob's bicep. "And I do love my Jacob, as long as my Jacob doesn't distract me from making him his breakfast. My Jacob won't like it if his Bella gets her hand burned off."

He snickered, and then I felt his mouth right next to my ear. "I love you too," he said in a stage whisper before going to set the plates onto the table. I heard a drawer opening and closing, and the sound of silverware being set onto the table.

Jacob surprised me later when he took the cooking pancakes, and then flipped them into the air with ease. He threw them behind him, with no aim whatsoever. To my complete shock, two landed perfectly in the middle of my plate, while a tall stack of ten stacked on top of each other in perfect rhythm onto his own plate. He sat down, pouring syrup on it while he smirked at me, and then digging in with his knife and fork.

"Where did you learn that?" I asked in amazement.

"My father. If it's one thing he can do, he can flip pancakes. The other things he's good at are carving stuff and annoying the crap out of me."

My eating seemed to be so much slower than Jacob's rapid chewing. He finished five pancakes before I even got to the second one on my plate, and sat there, staring at me, while I finished. I wiped my mouth with my napkin, and then leaned over and cleaned off some leftover syrup from the corner of Jacob's mouth. He smirked, picking up both dishes and placing them in the sink.

"So, what exciting thing are we doing today?" I asked casually.

"Hmmm," he said thoughtfully, turning on the water and scrubbing the dishes with a sponge, "how about we go to the Quileute reservation and you can meet my pack…and the rest of my tribal family?"

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. He must've heard it, because he chuckled quietly as he stacked the dishes on a dry dishrag.

"I'll protect you. Besides, we have a rule on the reservation that we're not allowed to attack another wolf's object of affection. Seth, Quil, Embry, and Jared all are perfectly fine with you. And, because of that, Claire, Kim, and Sam and Emily are also okay with you."

"What about Leah and Paul then?" I challenged.

"When I went back to change my clothing, they heard my thoughts of bringing you here. Sam told them to go to Port Angeles and spend the day there if they wanted too, so you won't have to worry about them. And, if Leah or Paul steps within a few feet of you with some nasty thought in their head, I'll probably attack them."

I dried the dishes next to him carefully, not looking at him. "Fine," I sighed, "but only if you come over later and introduce yourself to Charlie."

Jacob pretended to faint, rolling his eyes to the back of his head. "Oh no, I could never deal with the wrath of the Chief Swan!"

"Don't be sarcastic," I retorted. "Besides, he should get to know you, especially if you're going to be spending so much time here."

"Point taken," he mumbled, turning off the water and helping me put the dishes back into their separate cupboards. "Now come on, they're waiting for us." He opened the front door for me, and I stepped out into the crisp warmth of a Forks day. The air was actually slightly cool today, and I snuggled next to Jacob as we walked towards the familiar black car waiting in driveway. I slipped into the passenger's side while Jacob turned on the engine.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Maybe I can help you relax."

I turned to him, confused. "How so?"

He smirked at me, and tilted my chin up towards him. My mouth parted slightly into an **O** shape. Jacob pressed his forehead to my now clean forehead, and our noses touched. Gently, with the lightest of touches, he moved his head back and forth, nuzzling his nose against mine in an Eskimo kiss. And then, he leaned in so that his warm lips could meet mine once more.

I pulled him to me, leaning over the car's gearshift. He responded as enthusiastically, his talented tongue against my upper lip, running over it. My fingers wrapped around his neck, and my head was so light that I felt as if I could fly out the window and up into the sky. It seemed like each time I kissed Jacob, I felt suddenly full of…passion and love…No, that was too sappy. But it was true.

And, too soon of course, we both ran out of breath and pulled away.

Jacob revved the engine of the car, and then began to drive it easily onto the road. His right hand left the steering wheel, and he placed it on top of mine. I simpered, turning on the radio and letting the music fill the car as we drove quickly down the sleepy Forks streets.

I've always been to Forks every other summer to visit Charlie, but I had never been to La Push, so the beautiful beaches that greeted us as we went along the road caused me to catch my breath. The mile-long beach was majestic, the still waters blue-gray in the sun and coated with white bubbles. Dozens of beautiful rocks lined the shore, each a different shade of pastel colors, and the broken clumps of driftwood trees were in a clump in the corner, creating a make-shift group of benches that looked way to beautiful for me to sit down on. Islands that stood at small distances away were breathtaking, rising from the waters and at heights so tall that anyone who jumped off of it would be considered crazy.

Jacob turned the car onto another street, and dozens of almost cottage-like houses began to appear on ether side of us. I smiled, looking at how quaint and cute each one was. We stopped finally at a small wooden house that was painted a soft brick red, a color just a shade or two lighter than Jacob's beautiful russet skin.

The front door opened, and a man with broad shoulders and a face lined wisely with brilliant creases rolled his wheelchair out. He saw the car, and a bright smile filled his face, one of pure joy and excitement. He looked so much like Jacob, yet they seemed so different. Jacob's father seemed smaller in his chair, while Jacob was growing an inch every day.

Jacob climbed out of the car, at my door in an instant to help me out. I landed on the floor, more gracefully than usual, and Jacob took my hand as we walked towards his father. "This is my dad, Billy Black," Jacob said, motioning towards his father.

"It's so nice to meet you, Bella," Billy said sincerely, taking my other hand and shaking it smoothly. "Jacob hasn't stopped talking about you since you two went out to dinner at Port Angeles."

Jacob shot him a look. "Who told you about that?"

His father winked. "I may be old, Jake, but your old man picks up gossip better than you do."

A door across the street slammed open and I turned my head slightly to see Embry and Jared jaywalking across the street without looking. Quil appeared as well, but he was holding the hand of an adorable teenage girl. If anyone had looked from afar, they would've have mistaken them for brother and sister, but it only took me a moment to realize that the girl was Claire.

"Hi, Bella!" Embry said, giving me a light hug. "We weren't expecting you until later."

"He's lying," Jared chuckled. "He wanted you to come late so he could get first dibs on Emily and Kim's cooking." He also gave me a gentle hug, and I was glad that I had spent so much time with Jacob. Each hug was warm, too warm for a human and just a tad lighter than hugging a heater, except the heater was incredibly kind and friendly.

"Hello, Bella," Claire said timidly, clinging close to Quil's side. Her light brown hair curled in front of her face, making her seem younger than thirteen. Quil looked at her with such adoration, and I couldn't help but notice how they truly did look like each other's perfect half. Quil's body movements kept her near, and he stared at her as if she was the most important thing on this earth.

"Where are Seth and Sam?" Jacob asked.

"They're near the edge of the village," Quil explained, "making sure _they_ don't come back and try to ruin Bella's visit. They'll be back soon." He released Claire's hand and gave me a hug. The way he said _them_ made me immediately recognize whom he was talking about. I forced a smile.

Embry danced around us. "Can we go to Emily's now? I'm starving!"

"You're always starving!" Jared proclaimed, his tone teasing. "Besides, you just want to get there so you can hog all of the hamburgers to yourself."

"Oh yeah? I'll race you there!" Before Jared could even retort, Embry was off and running. Rolling his brown eyes, Jared raced after him. They both looked like streaks of dark brown bullets, running with feet that barely touched the floor.

"God, they're going to eat everything before Emily and Kim are done!" Quil complained. With one swift motion, he tossed Claire onto his back and started after them. Claire waved to me before she disappeared. Despite the extra weight on him, Quil easily caught up to them and was now racing along side of them. Claire was helpfully pushing them off course, a silly smile on her face each time Embry or Jared scooted over.

"Shouldn't we go after them?" I teased Jacob.

"Why yes, my dear, you're right!" And, with a flowing motion, Jacob tossed me onto his back as easily as Quil had tossed Claire. Before I could even say goodbye to Billy, Jacob was running. His speed seemed only a fraction slower than his incredible wolf run, and he flew past his pack without a second glance. I constricted my arms around Jacob, slamming my eyes shut so I wouldn't experience motion sickness again.

Jacob skidded to a stop, and I heard the crashing noises behind us as Jared and Embry bumped into one another. Quil and Claire appeared to the right of us, and Claire was laughing because Quil was almost out of breath from trying to keep up with Jacob. He pretended to be angry at her for laughing, and he pulled her of his back and held her upside-down. Both of them burst into laughter, and I smiled at their little moment.

The front door of a tiny gray-blue house opened, and a girl with black hair and long eyelashes poked her head out. She surveyed the mess of us standing there in the streets, some laughing while others were pushing each other back and forth, and smiled, showing her white teeth. "Emily, I told you it was them!" she called backwards, opening the door all the way to let us all in.

Jacob set me on the ground, and led me towards the door of the house. Jared beat us to it, and was now holding the girl to him, his mouth scandalously to her ear. The girl laughed melodically, and gave him a gentle push towards the house's large kitchen. She turned to me, and her smile seemed to get bigger.

"You must be Bella," she said, her voice shy but her eyes bright. I nodded, smiling back only because the mood of the house and pack was instantly contagious. "I'm Kim," she started to say, but a loud crash from the kitchen caused us all to jump. "Damn it, Jared," she groaned, leading us towards the front room of the house.

Jared was smiling greedily, half of an abnormally large muffin in his hands, which were a bright red color. A young woman stood next to him, hands on her hips as she stared at Jared with a look of annoyance but amusement. She was equally beautiful to the rest of the imprinted "wolf-girls", as Jacob called them, even though I saw the left side of her face. On the floor was a black frying pan, and smack in the center was a large dent that resembled a pair of hands.

"Your boyfriend," she said to Kim, "tried to steal one of the muffins meant for Bella. I had to slap him with my best frying pan, and now we can't have omelets."

"Leave it to him," Kim laughed, picking the pan off the floor. She waved it at Jared. "Go on, fix it," she said sternly.

Jared stuffed the rest of the muffin into his mouth, and then took the pan in his hands, hitting the dent he had made from the other side before giving it back to Kim. He had hit the dent back out, and the pan looked almost good as new. I stared, transfixed, at his hands that were slowly fading in red color and was now back to a healthy russet color. If it hit a normal person, the hands would've been the ugly red for weeks, but a werewolf healed like magic.

The woman, who I assumed was Emily, looked towards the rest of us crowded in the doorway, and she turned towards us, catching me off guard. Although the left side of her face was that of perhaps a model, three vivid red scars that went from her hairline to her chin covered the other side of her face. I politely diverted my eyes to the enormous muffins that were on the table. There were covered in huge chocolate chips, and each one had a letter on them. B-E-L-L-A. Oh my God. They had spelled out my name in chocolate chips. Well, technically, the E muffin was in half because of Jared, so it now read B-F-L-L-A, but who cares? I had never had muffins made especially for me.

"Bella, it's great to finally meet you," Emily said. Everyone in this village seemed to say that, and they actually sounded sincere when they did so. Jacob pulled me recklessly close, slipping onto a bench to sit, and I cracked a smile. "Kim and I made you some chocolate-chip muffins, but Jared got into them. I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's fine," I said, trying to sit down on the bench next to Jacob but ending up more on his lap. He must've planned that, for he smirked to himself, humming innocently. I took the B muffin in my hands, picking at the edges. "I'm probably only going to finish this one anyways."

"Sweet, more for me!" Jared grinned as he scooped up the rest of the ruined E muffin. Emily laughed, a sweet sound like church bells ringing, whacking him again while I took the plate and passed it around the table to the rest of the wolves.

Quil and Claire were snuggled on their own bench, Claire sitting smugly on Quil's lap that seemed to fit her perfectly. With dainty fingers, she passed him pieces of one of the L muffins, and he pretended to eat her fingers along with the muffin bits she gave him. It obviously didn't matter to them that they were three years apart, as long as they had each other. Quil looked around, and I pretended to be absorbed in the cabinet above their heads. Confirming that no one was looking, he kissed Claire and she flushed red.

Jared was sitting down on a comfortable-looking kitchen chair, and Kim hovered at his elbow, stirring a large bowl full of eggs while she talked to her boyfriend. She pretended to pour the eggs on top of him, and he pantomimed the eggs falling on his shirt and a look of shock crossed his face. He took the bowl from her hands, carelessly putting it on the table, and then pulled Kim sideways into him so that her face was pressed against his shirt. Jared leaned down so that his mouth touched hers, and he proceeded to perform CPR-like movements to her, substituting pushing her stomach with tickling her.

Both of the couples looked like those lovey-dovey couples you saw on the street, the ones that can't take their eyes off each other, the type you look at and say, "God, they are absolutely perfect for each other." I wondered if I looked like that with Jacob, and leaned against his shoulder for comfort. He ripped off a piece of my muffin, tossing it in his mouth and then kissing the top of my head while he chewed.

The front door opened again, and Sam and Seth entered. "Oh muffins, sweet!" Seth cheered, plopping himself down and munching on the A muffin with large mouthfuls. He took a look around the room, and he exchanged a look with Embry that clearly said, "Okay, are we the only people without girls here?!"

Sam didn't even look at the food. He sauntered straight towards Emily, with passion so deep in his eyes I felt uncomfortable to watch. Quil and Claire, and Jared and Kim, were nowhere near as in love as Sam and Emily, and it showed. Sam stared longingly at her scars, kissing each one before nuzzling her cheek and planting a big one on her lips. I stared at his movements carefully. Was Sam responsible for Emily's scars? He handed her the bowl of eggs that Kim had left on the table, and helpfully poured some into a pan. He stared at the mark in the center of it.

"What happened to our frying pan?!"

After we all ate –well, the wolf-girls and I all ate a part of one muffin while the wolves gobbled down Emily's enormous cheese omelets and a economy pack of potato chips each– Jacob took my hand and told the rest of his pack that we were going for a walk on the beach. His wolf brothers hooted while Emily, Kim, and Claire rolled their eyes in unison and wished us a good time.

Jacob helped me climb over the fence that separated the road from the beach, and we slid, laughing and tripping, down the large rocks onto the soft white beach. I pulled off my sandals, feeling the warm sand between my toes. Jacob took of his shoes as well, and we began to walk along the shore, barefoot and happy.

"They like you a lot," Jacob said conversationally. "If you could hear what the entire pack was thinking, your face would be on fire." He smirked at the thought, and, on cue, I blushed.

"But what about Leah and Paul?"

"They'll come around. They have to come around, or else the whole pack is going to kill them. It would be good then; I'm tired of both of them complaining about you. Oh hey, look at that…" He stopped walking, and I turned to what he pointed at near a tall wall near the end of the beach.

At a first glance, a normal pedestrian would have assumed that the drawing on the wall was mere graffiti. I stared at it for a moment, and then gasped at what I realized. It was a sketchy drawing of a man, dressed in Native American clothing. Next to him was a lighter drawing of the man now with a slightly hairier face and pointed ears. And, with each drawing next to it, the man was slowly resembling more of a wolf until the final picture where a large wolf stood on four legs.

"It's beautiful," I breathed, letting go of Jacob's hand to go up and touch the long faded drawing. "Who drew it?"

"No one knows. It was here even before I was alive, and it's made of some sort of paint that never removes from anything. But, to be honest, I don't think any of the elders can bring themselves to remove or paint over it."

"How did the Quileutes become like this? Was it always in your blood?"

He thought for a moment, a sudden smile appearing on his face. "Come on then," he said with a laugh, throwing me back onto his back. "I'll show you." And, with the swiftness of his wolf form, Jacob started up the beach and I couldn't help but wonder what was in store for me.

* * *

Hey, you. Yeah, you. See that little button down there. Like right in the center of the page?

. . .

Okay good. Now I want you to hit that button, write something creative and hit SUBMIT FEEDBACK. :)  
I'm trying for 100+ reviews, so please allow me to meet my goal. In fact, I'll make you a deal. If I get 110+ reviews by the time I'm done with my next chapters, I'll throw in a double feature. That's right. You heard me. TWO chapters. It might take longer, but TWO chapters. If I don't, I'll still give you one chapter :D So it's all good for you guys.

I didn't proofread this with my "editors", so if you see some stupid mistake in spelling/grammer/words, please PM me :P

Love you guys!

~Geneth


	15. Quileute History

Ello Twilighters! (God, how corny did that sound? :D)

Sorry for not updating sooner, but you have to remember that I had to write a freaking double feature for you guys who helped me achieve my awesome goal of 110+ reviews. By the way, now that this story is officially 120+ reviews, I just want to thank everyone for reviewing and sticking to this story :) I especially want to thank **OutsideJokes** for inspiring me to give Kim and Jared's relationship a catchphrase. See if you can figure it out by the end of our special feature :P

This chapter isn't exactly the most fascinating, I will admit that. It's mostly background information on Quileute history. If you get bored, you can skip it...as long as you review XD But don't really skip it; you'll miss all of the Jacob/Bella interaction and an interesting thing that Jacob named after Bella.

~Geneth

* * *

By the time I knew it, we were back in front of Jacob's house. Jacob let me down on the front porch, and carefully pushed the door open. Billy was in the square living room, a book open in his hands. The television was on as well, but Billy wasn't reading or watching. In fact, he was staring off into space with a dazed expression in his eyes.

"Dad? Dad? DAD!" Jacob waved his hands in his father's face.

Billy blinked, eyes refocusing. He smiled sheepishly –he looked so much like Jacob when he did that– and adjusted his wheelchair so that he was facing us. "Oh, hello Jacob, Bella. What brings you here?"

"I want to show Bella our quilt," Jacob explained. "Is it still in the chest?"

"Last time I checked," Billy replied with a yawn. "Make sure to put it back, Jake. It's been in the family since before your grandfather was born. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a nap…" Letting out a loud sigh followed by a stretching motion, Billy rolled out of room.

Jacob led me to the small dining room. I looked around, immediately noticing a beautiful, handcrafted chest near the corner of the room. It was tall, nearly up to my waist, and was such a rich chocolate brown that it didn't look as old as Billy claimed it was. The sides were various animals that had such detail, that it shocked me that someone hadn't taken a picture of an animal and pasted it on the chest. Along the top were carvings, written in gorgeous calligraphy. I squinted at it, running my fingers over the deeply carved figures.

"It has all of the male names of my family line," Jacob revealed. "I know it's sexist, but it's a tradition that my ancestors favored. My dad owns it now, but when he's gone, I get to own it. I'm in the process of learning how to carve in the writing, but I'm getting better at it." He lifted one of the dining room chairs off the floor, showing me that one of the chair's legs was hollow. He rummaged in it for a moment, and then produced an ancient looking key.

Jacob stuck it in the front of the chest, turning it slowly. The chest gave out a loud groan and I peered inside. At the top were a few cornhusk dolls that were frayed and slightly dusty, and an alluring headdress with many different bird feathers. He gingerly lifted the items up and placed them lovingly in his lap before reaching down and pulling out a woven quilt.

"Here, help me open it," Jacob instructed, and I gently unfolded the corners of the soft blanket. It was much bigger than it appeared, and was a rich caramel color. "This is the story of my ancestors, and how their spirits combined with that of the common wolf creatures," Jacob said in a quiet voice.

He pointed to the first picture, one so detailed that it looked like an actual drawing rather than a threaded piece of a quilt. The picture showed a man with a tall headdress, one similar to the one Jacob had in his family chest. He had his chin raised slightly, an arrogant tilt that said that he meant something, that he wasn't someone you ignored. His eyes pierced mine, and I ran my fingers across the man's face. Jacob began his tale, laying his hand on mine and tracing the threads with me.

"That's Taha Aki, one of the greatest Spirit Chiefs of the Quileutes. Spirit Chiefs were unique members of the Quileute tribe, people who possessed the power to release themselves from their human bodies and travel in the world as mere whispers in the wind, or spirits. Spirit Chiefs had powers similar to werewolves, besides the fact that they could go in and out of their spirit form. They could hear each other's thoughts, those public and those personal."

Jacob guided my finger to the next woven picture, one with several men standing in a straight line, chins high and proud. "These were the Spirit Warriors that were in the Quileute tribe, around the time when Taha Aki was chief." He pointed now to another man, one who was outlined with thicker black thread. This man stood slightly apart from the group of the proud, and something about his appearance sent shivers down my spine..

"This was Utlapa, one of Taha Aki's strongest Spirit Warriors who was powerful, but also selfish. He wished so much for power that he thought that the Quileutes should enslave the neighboring tribes in order to create such an enterprise that no outsiders could defeat them. Taha Aki heard what Utlapa was planning, and was greatly offended. He believed that Quileutes should live in harmony with its neighbors in order to perform proper civility to the community. Therefore, he ordered Utlapa to leave, embarrassing him in front of his many powerful comrades. Utlapa's last words were those vowing to get revenge on the chief.

"One cold day, Taha Aki thought he saw intruders near the mountain side, and he decided to check if they were of any threat. He went into the deepest part of the forest, and released his spirit into the world, abandoning his body in a few bushes. Once he was far away, Utlapa emerged from his hiding space, releasing his own body and entering that of the chief." Jacob moved our intertwined hands to the detailed next picture, one with a lightly outlined man flying though the trees to two bodies lying side by side on the ground.

"After Taha Aki looked around and saw no intruders, he returned to his body's hiding spot to find it empty. Lying next to it was the body of Utlapa, his throat slit so Taha Aki couldn't reenter the world as Utlapa. He flew to his home, his village, to find Utlapa claiming to be him and saying to everyone that he had a vision while in the spirit world. He told bogus lies of how a great danger was coming after Spirit Warriors, and if any of the warriors were caught as spirits, they would die. Because the people believed their chief, they agreed to never enter the spirit world again. Of course, the other purpose behind this was to prevent the real Taha Aki from interacting with any other people."

"That's horrible," I exclaimed, touching the portrait of Taha Aki passionately. "To be cut off from the rest of the world, with no chance of communicating…"

"Bella," Jacob laughed, his storytelling obviously interrupted by me, "do you want me to finish the story or not?"

"Oh, I do, I do! It's just that…I was just saying…"

Rolling his eyes playfully at me, Jacob gestured towards a new threaded picture. This time, it was of a handsome wolf standing next to the light shape of Taha Aki's body. The wolf had its eyes trained on Taha Aki, looking at him as if he wanted an answer.

"While Taha Aki was mourning the loss of his body, and the tribe he no longer could rule, he ran into a large wolf. The compassionate wolf listened to his story, and then offered Taha Aki temporary residence in his body. Taha Aki was overwhelmed, but he accepted, entering the wolf's body with new plans to earn back his tribe."

"Taha Aki, and the wolf of course, carefully went to his village, wolfing the songs of his people as he entered. The people were astonished by the sounds they heard, and a Spirit Warrior by the name of Yut suggested that they communicate with it. Perhaps it was a powerful being trapped in an animal body. Of course, the people refused the idea, still believing Utlapa's half-baked lie.

"Yut ignored them, hiding in his hut and releasing his spirit into the world. He went to the wolf, and Taha Aki rushed out from his temporary body. They spoke, and Yut promised to avenge him, heading back to the village to revive his body. But Utlapa had other plans. He had been keeping an eye on all of the Spirit Warriors, and the second he saw Yut enter his hut and not emerge for a stint of time, he hurried into the hut. After covering Yut's body with soot, he yelled to his people, telling them that Yut had been infested and that if they didn't kill him soon, the whole tribe would die. And, with those words, Utlapa slit Yut's neck.

"Taha Aki saw all of this, and he was filled with rage, anger that burned so deeply inside of him that it was like a flame had lit in the chief's heart. He flew to the wolf, entering his body in a flash, and then the most amazing thing occurred." Jacob's eyes sparkled as he said this, and I leaned forward intently. With the lightest of touches, Jacob gently pushed my hand to the final picture on the quilt. A large wolf had its head in the air, facing the sky that didn't exist. It stood on its back legs, which looked strangely human, and human hands extended from legs covered with fur.

"Taha Aki's anger was too human for the wolf to control. All of the feelings that were bubbling in him with such passion were too much for one lone wolf to hold, to understand. The wolf howled in sudden pain, ran to the heart of the village, and then transformed into a man before everyone's very eyes.

"The god-like man looked exactly like Taha Aki, only more magnificent than anything anyone had ever seen before. With the swiftness of his new body, Taha Aki rushed to Utlapa, killing him before Utlapa had a change to change to a spirit. The people rejoiced, praising the true chief for his braveness.

"Taha Aki became the dad of many sons, and some of those sons' descendants are living in the tribe today. Over the years of studying, the elders have concluded that there is a certain pattern when it comes to the chances of a descendant of a werewolf becoming a shifter. The pattern isn't very complicated; in fact, it's just every other generation. For example, my father is nowhere near werewolf material, and yet here I sit because of my grandfather. Same thing for Sam's parents and Quil's and so on."

I furrowed my brow. "So, does that mean if Sam and Emily were to have children, they wouldn't be werewolves?"

"Nope. The elders are still testing a theory, however, on what would happen if two werewolves were to have a baby. They were actually hoping that Leah and Sam would have a child for those reasons, but of course, Sam's with Emily now so…" Jacob shrugged, folding the quilt back up and gingerly dropping it into the chest, along with the other treasures of his family.

"Thank you for telling me," I said quietly.

"Anytime, Bella. Now you understand the Quileutes a little better," he added with a grin.

As Jacob was locking the chest and returning the key to its proper hiding spot, I wandered back into the living room, staring briefly at the small amounts of family pictures that lined the curved fireplace. Next to the far end of the fireplace was another door, and curiosity overcame me as I walked stealthily towards it. It was slightly open, and I pushed it all the way through, stepping into what appeared to be a garage.

Even though the house itself was cozy and small, the garage was the type that looked renovated to fit at least four cars. I hadn't seen it at the side of Jacob's house, so I could only assume that it was in the back of the house. The Blacks' familiar black car was still in the driveway, so only two other cars occupied the garage. One was an ancient looking red car that was raised on cinder blocks, with the hood open to reveal a somewhat completed engine. The other was covered by a large sheet.

"I've seen you've found my little car hideaway," Jacob said suddenly. I winced. I hadn't heard him creep up on me, and it scared me. I had to learn how to stay calm, especially if I was going to hang out with werewolves. He appeared next to me, squeezing my hand absently while he stroked the hood of his red car.

"What kind of car is it?" I asked politely.

"It's a 1986 Rabbit. I've been building it since I was fifteen," he said proudly. "My dad brought it home one night without an explanation, and I promised to fix her up before I left for collage. I'm almost done…"

"What about that one?" I pointed to the covered car.

A mischievous grin came on Jacob's face. "That's my baby, my little masterpiece that I just recently got from one of the Cullen boys. He said it didn't work anymore because a part was missing." He laughed darkly. "Boy, was he wrong. All I had to do was fix the engine, add in some missing pieces, and that baby ran like magic…" He smiled innocently at me. "I named it after you."

"You did what?!"

"It reminded me of you every time I worked on it. It's beautiful, gorgeous in every way, and it responds highly to flattery. It listens to me, and even when I get frustrated or mad or completely ignore it, it forgives me." He flashed a hopeful simper towards me.

I glared at him for a moment, and then sighed. "Fine, can I at least see the holder of my name?"

"No can do, Bella," he said, waltzing towards the side of his car protectively. "No one is allowed to see it until I take her out for a ride on graduation day."

"No one?"

"Not even my father is allowed in this garage while I'm working on it," he said proudly. "And I intend to keep it this way."

I bit my lip, my mind thinking of plans to see. Suddenly, I thought of one that might work. I walked over to Jacob, who was leaning on the top of the car and not looking at me. I walked up to him, and very gently placed my hand on his cheek. He turned, a quizzical expression on his face, and I took that opportunity to wrap my arms around his neck and leap onto him, constricting my legs around him as well. Before he could shake me off or retort, I pressed my lips to his.

He flinched at first but, rolling his eyes, he kissed me back, using his hands to support my legs so he could clutch me to him without me struggling to hold on. When we both pulled away, I pressed my forehead to his with innocence in my eyes.

"So can I see it?" I breathed.

Jacob nodded once, and I hopped off him. "Now, if you showed as much enthusiasm as you just did when you were going to meet my family, I wouldn't be complaining," he muttered under his breath as he motioned for me to step back. As soon as I was almost near the wall, he wiggled his fingers and held the end of the sheet. "Lady and no gentlemen, no boys and one girl, I present…my cleaned up, shiny, HSV Maloo R8…Isabella!" And he pulled the sheet from the car.

And, for maybe the fourth or fifth time that day, I breathed in a sharp inhale of breath, staring at the piece of art in front of me. Is it possible that I actually appreciated such a magnificent piece of work to be named after me?

It was a truck, with a spacious cab near the front and paint that gleamed in the light. The back end of the truck was big enough to hold maybe five of the Quileute wolves, in full human form, and the wheels were glossed too many times over to count. But the one thing that astounded me was the color. It was a golden amber color, a strong brown with just a tint of orange. The light made it seem like it was glowing, and I couldn't pull my eyes away from it, no matter how hard I tried.

"So, what do you think?" Jacob asked excitedly.

I walked over to it again, lightly trailing my fingers across the side. "The Cullens gave it to you for free, just because it was missing a few parts?" I said softly, peeking into the window to see the leather seats and impressive radio system.

"Yep. I thought there was a catch too, but the doctor insisted that there wasn't. Besides, they had to make room in that damn big garage of theirs for Alice Cullen's new Porsche. Did you know they got her a freaking Porsche for her birthday? On my birthday, I get twenty bucks at most and birthday punches."

"Hmm hmmm," I replied, too occupied by the car.

He appeared next to me, hugging me to his massive chest. "You've got the hots for my car?" he teased, his mouth next to my ear. I bobbed my head up and down slowly, and he chuckled. "I do too. But, like my darling motorcycle, this Isabella can't hop into my arms and kiss me because she wants to see the pretty human under the sheet in my garage." He laughed in an almost seductive tone, and I turned my head to kiss his cheek when a loud noise came from outside the garage door.

"Jacob! Jake, we know you're in there!"

"With Bella! You're showing her your car, aren't you!"

"You said we'd be the first to see it! What's wrong with you!"

Jacob groaned, releasing me and scrambling to snatch the cover for his car. "Quick, help me…" he whispered, and I grabbed the other end of the sheet, running along the car with Jacob until not one part of the car was seen. Then, with a grin in my direction, he lifted the old-fashioned door of the garage open.

Embry rushed into the garage, glancing around suspiciously, while Jared came in with Kim slung easily over his back. Quil followed, Claire peeking out from behind his shoulders, while Seth brought up the rear with a relaxed expression in his eyes.

"Where is it, where is it, where is it?" Embry chanted, dancing around the room towards Isabella, touching the cover sheet with his toe.

"Hey! No looking!" Jacob ordered, standing in front of it and pushing his friend away from his precious car.

"That's so unfair, Jake! She gets to look at it, and we can't?" Quil complained, and Claire laughed angelically from his back.

"That's only because she can do something that you can't," Jacob said matter-of-factly. An awkward pause went through the garage, and suddenly Quil and Embry were dramatically gagging on the floor. Claire hit the side of Quil's ear, and he stood up straight so she wouldn't fall.

"We're actually here because Sam says he wants to go Baton Racing tonight," Claire explained, pulling herself more firmly up Quil's back. "It's supposed to be a full moon tonight, so Sam says we might as well not let that go to waste." The words seemed so simple, yet it sent me into a wave of puzzlement. Baton racing in the moonlight? What did these kids do for fun? Whatever it was, though, made Jacob's eyes sparkle and he considered it for a second.

"Come on, Jacob!" Seth protested. "You can bring Bella too so we can add a new team." The other three wolves grinned in agreement to his proposition.

"Oh all right…Bella, you don't mind…?"

"Of course not. But I am curious; why baton racing?"

All of the wolves and wolf-girls laughed. "It's a Quileute wolf tradition," Jared began, "You see, first we…"

"Damn it, Jared, don't give it all away!" Kim exclaimed, covering Jared's mouth with her hands. She smiled innocently. "You'll have to come and see then, Bella. Don't worry; all of us wolf-girls get involved to." She nudged Jared's side and he waved, leaving the garage with her on his back.

"Oh yes, we're the best parts," Claire giggled, and Quil nodded in agreement before jogging after them.

"So, we'll see you later than, Bells!" Embry called out as he and Seth ran out of the garage.

"Bells?" I asked Jacob, turning to him with my eyebrows raised.

"Don't worry; that means he likes you. Now come on, we should change you out of those clothes. Baton racing can get pretty aggressive…"

When we arrived back at Charlie's house fifteen minutes later, I heard Jacob curse under his breath as he stopped at the curb of the block. I looked up and saw a familiar silver Volvo parked in front of my house, with two statuesque men leaning against it. They spotted us, and even from a distance, I could see Dr. Cullen's eyes go cold. Edward wasn't as frosty, but his expression was just as wary.

"I'll pick you up in ten minutes," Jacob said thickly, and I nodded. He leaned over, kissing my cheek, and I climbed quickly out of the car. And, with another small smile, Jacob revved the car's engine and made a u-turn, quickly disappearing down the street.

"Dr. Cullen, Edward, what a surprise!" I said with forced cheerfulness, approaching them with the biggest simper I could manage. "I hope you haven't been waiting for long; Charlie's been fishing a lot lately."

"Oh, it's no big deal," Dr. Cullen said simply, easing himself off the car. His golden blonde hair was sparkling in the dim light, and he was still in his work clothing. Both Cullens followed me to the front porch of the house. "We just thought we'd stop by and give you both some of Esme's homemade gnocchi and Spaghetti Napolitano." I could almost immediately tell that he was lying, even though his tone had just the right amount of innocence and calamity. His face was a perfect mask, but Edward's eyes flickered slightly at his sentence.

"You might want to put it in the fridge," Edward said, "but only for one night or else it goes bad." He winked half-heartedly at me and I managed a smirk. Edward thought his foster father was insane, and he looked almost annoyed by the occasion.

"Edward, would you mind fetching the food? It's in the trunk, I believe." Edward nodded solemnly, leaving us at the front door while he walked back towards his shiny Volvo. Dr. Cullen turned to me.

"Bella, I think you and I both know why we're here." I nodded slowly, and he continued. "Although I haven't known Charlie for a long time, I honestly care for him. But I…I think you're putting him at danger by hanging at with one of the children from the Quileute reservation."

"There's nothing wrong with them," I said stiffly, my hands clenching into fists. I crossed my arms behind my back carefully, my eyes never leaving the doctor's honey-colored ones.

"They have a certain reputation at school," he pointed out, "and my family isn't one to favor them."

"It's not like the Quileutes ever threatened you," I objected. "And Charlie likes them a lot." My lie sounded confident enough in my own ears, and Dr. Cullen let out a deep sigh.

"Very well then, Bella. But please; be careful." He smiled and patted my hand with his own colder one. The Cullens definitely had a story to tell, but I knew that I would learn it when the time was right.

* * *

Yeah, to those people I told that the Cullens weren't going to be returning, I guess I kinda lied to you...Sorry! :P

And yes, baton racing. The Cullens have baseball, and the Quileutes have the awesomeness of baton racing!!!! :D

Review! Help me find any stupid errors I made by PMing me! And, most importantly, read the next awesome chapter of our special DOUBLE FEATURE!

~Geneth

PS If you want to find out how awesome Isabella the car looks like, go to my profile and check out the Twilight: Reversed Roles pics :)


	16. The Race

And it continues! Who's ready for some VILLAINS? :D

~Geneth :)

PS I have to warn you, there's a little bit of Jacob/Bella making out here :D Since I'm sticking to the story, when Edward "tampers with Bella's memory", it's kinda like they're making out...so I decided, "Huh, might as well copy that..." :P

* * *

"Bella? Bella!"

I jumped, pulling out of my trance. I had been so busy caught up in what to say to Charlie about Jacob coming over that I hadn't noticed Charlie trying to start a conversation over dinner. After Dr. Cullen and Edward had left, I had changed out of my Capri pants and fancy shirt, and into jeans and a brown hoodie. I had also microwaved the food from the Cullens and put it on the table to eat with Charlie.

I blinked, my eyes refocusing to the dinner table. "Um, sorry Dad…Kinda zoned out for a second…" I smiled, looking down at my food and poking at a piece of gnocchi.

"Long day?" Charlie chuckled, popping another forkful of food into his mouth. "I asked if you did anything today."

"Well…" I said slowly, "today I finished my homework and I…I went over to Jacob Black's house."

Charlie's eyes bugged, and he nearly spit his mouthful of food into his lap. "You did what now?"

"I sort of went on a date with Jacob Black, and he wanted me to meet his fam...Dad, are you okay?"

Charlie's face was changing colors, from red to purple to red again. "You're…You're going out with Jacob Black? He's too old for you, and he already has a girlfriend!"

"No, Dad, that's Sam Uley. Jacob is the second tallest, but he's the same age as me." He's also better looking, smarter, and knows how to make me feel so great… "So, he's coming over in a little bit. Can you try and act civilized so he doesn't think I live with a crazy dude?"

"Hey, I act civilized! I am the police chief, aren't I?" He sipped his water. "So, what are you guys doing tonight?"

"We're going on a run with some of the other Quileutes."

He nearly spat his water at me. "You? Run?" He pounded his chest with his fist, choking and smothering laughter at the same time. "Bella, in all fairness, you can't even walk without tripping sometimes, sweetheart."

Before I could retort, the doorbell rang. I shot him a look, and ran off to answer the door. I opened it, seeing Jacob there in jeans and a black sweatshirt. He grinned at me, and then looked over my shoulder to my father. Charlie pushed to the front, holding the door open for Jacob to enter.

"Come in, Jacob," he said, his voice calm. "We're just finishing dinner."

"It's nice to meet you, Chief Swan," Jacob said, careful and respectful.

"You make me seem so old…Please, call me Charlie. I hear you're taking my daughter running." He almost guffawed when he said the word, but managed to spit the word out without anyone being sprayed with his salvia.

"Yep, that's the plan. We're doing a small race with my friends from the reserve. It won't take long, and she'll be very safe with me, sir." He said it so confidently, so sincerely that Charlie nodded wisely and said nothing in response. Smiling, I disappeared into the kitchen.

I grabbed my jacket from behind my chair, putting the rest of my dinner in the fridge and going back into the hall to see the front door open, my father and Jacob nowhere in sight. I ran outside, and sighed with relief when I saw that both were there, admiring Jacob's car in the driveway. It was Jacob's old-fashioned Rabbit, gleaming in the dim light. Charlie was jabbering away to Jacob, who had his hand on the hood of the car.

"These things cost a fortune, especially the vintage models! How the hell did you fix it up? I mean, it must've cost so much money and, no offense or anything, I don't think you'd have the money to fix it up! I mean…"

"Dad!" I said, embarrassed. I hurried over to the passenger's side of the car, and quickly slid into the car, not wanting to deal with Charlie anymore.

"What? I'm curious…"

Jacob politely smiled. "We'd best be going; we don't want to make anyone wait for us. It was nice to meet you, Charlie." He opened the door, climbing in.

"Nice to meet you too, Jacob. Have fun, Bella!" And with that, he waved and headed back up to the house.

Jacob turned the engine on, and eased the car out of the driveway in one swift motion. He pressed on the gas peddle, and the car zoomed down the street. I looked around the car, surprised that it was neater than Jacob's family car.

"Your dad's really nice," Jacob said absently.

"Only when there's company over. Why are we suddenly driving this one? It doesn't look like you use it a lot."

"That's because I don't. This baby is really good for off-road driving, and I knew you didn't want to ride me the whole way. Besides, I take every opportunity to show my beautiful Rabbit to the world…"

"Wait!" I interrupted. "Did you say we would've run the whole way? You mean…" My breaths were coming in faster, my chest rising up and down with sudden hyperventilation. "There's still a part of the ride where we're going REAL running again?"

"God, Bella, calm down!" He rolled his eyes to me. "You'd think I told you I was a vampire who liked to drink your blood! You're going to be fine, anyways. Just keep your eyes shut, your mouth closed, and your arms around me."

"I'm going to fall again," I whimpered, "and get a big stain on my shirt, and then your friends are going to make some sick joke about why I have it, and then they'll laugh, you'll laugh, and I'll die a little inside."

He stopped the car, and I looked outside. We had pulled to the side of the road, hidden under the trees, to a small fence. I squinted at it, and read the sign. **QUILEUTE RESERVATION PROPERTY: DO NOT CROSS WITHOUT PERMISSION**. I frowned. This ride was going to be worse than I thought.

Jacob appeared in my window, opening the door for me like a gentleman. I had been too busy looking at the sign that I hadn't notice him already shut off the engine and leave the driver's side of the car. He was barebacked, his sweatshirt left on his seat, and I diverted my eyes. I stepped out, my frown still showing as I crossed my arms across my chest and pouted.

"Hmm," Jacob said, a small smile growing quickly on his face. "It seems I must use my super awesome werewolf powers to manipulate your thoughts and mind, so that you will no longer fear rides on a werewolf's back…" He leaned forward, pushing me back slightly so that my back was pressed against the door.

Very gently, he put his forehead against mine. "Tell me, Bella, what are you afraid of exactly?" he asked, staring into my eyes with his scorching amber ones. I tried to look away, but his arms forced me to stay in that position.

"I'm scared of…hitting a tree…and falling off you…and you leaving me behind…" Oh great, now I was babbling. Jacob could probably smell the victory by now.

He rubbed his nose against mine, nuzzling it with a touch that made me shiver all over. His breath tickled my upper lip, and I prayed that I wouldn't sneeze right now. "Phase one complete," he grinned. "Now, Bella, are you still worried?"

"Yes," I said, my voice shaking as I tried to focus on anything but his touch or the humor in his eyes. "I-I'm going to fall off…and die from being hit…and fall off…and die from being h-h-hit…"

He pressed both of his lips tenderly to my upper lip, lightly holding it in his and running his extremely talented tongue over it. "Phase two complete. How about now?"

"Dying…motion sickness…getting hit…falling off…dying…"

He moved my hands off from my sides, positioning them around his bare neck. Jacob pressed his lips to mine again, pulling me to him in a bear hug that not only smothered me but also silenced me. When he carefully pulled away, he stared into my eyes again. "Phase three complete. How are you feeling, Bella?"

"Hmm? Fine, fine…so fine that I'd like a ride right now…"

He grinned, releasing me to do a neat somersault in the air and landing in the bushes. Seconds later, the tall russet wolf emerged with a bag tied around his back leg, and he skidded to a stop in front of me. I hesitantly climbed onto him, and then laid flat on my belly, my arms constricting around his powerful neck and my face buried into his soft fur. He snorted a wolfish laugh, and then took off.

For some reason, I was very tempted to open my eyes as we streaked over the fence and down the road. I forced myself to resist, thinking of how Jacob would freak out if I puked on his warm brown fur. His bullet-like movement was smooth, riding over each and every bump like it was nothing, and I focused on how even his breath came out, like he could run like this for miles without tiring.

We halted after ten minutes, and I pried my heavy eyelids open. We were on an empty road, one that was practically glowing because of the moonlight. The other Quileutes were several yards away from us, down the road and all sitting and chatting on a large rock. I looked to the right of us and saw that we were on a cliff, one that had a railing on the side because people might fall off without it. The moon was directly in front of us, and I suddenly realized why Claire had said the moonlight wasn't to go to waste. There was no other light on this cliff but the one from above.

I pulled myself of Jacob's back, and he trotted alongside me as we approached the group of wolves and wolf-girls. Exotic and stunning Leah spotted me first, and she immediately edged away to the farthest side of the enormous rock. Paul glanced up and instantly imitated Leah's action, joining her on the other side of their sitting area.

"Bella!" Quil said with honest joy, getting to his feet to greet me with a hug. Almost straight away the other wolves –besides Sam who nodded with a smile in my direction– and the wolf-girls also gave me a hug. A ripple of happiness flowed through me. I could see why Jacob said that all Quileutes felt like family; they easily acted as if they did.

"We're just about to start," Claire said excitedly. "The first race is going to be between Team Sam, Emily, and Paul versus Team Jared, Kim, and Embry."

"Yeah! Team Jared for the win! And we're going to kick their as…"

"Damn it, Jared, calm down," Kim said with a roll of her eyes. "You guys haven't even changed yet. If you're going to spend the whole race bragging, then let Jacob go. He's already changed and…"

"I got it, I got it," Jared said, jumping off the rock and disappearing behind another one nearby. Embry bounded after him, diving into the bush with a loud crash.

"Sure, he's got it," Sam teased. "He's got the changing, but he ain't got the race." He ran off after them, followed by an actually excited-looking Paul.

"Shall we go up?" Quil asked, and everyone but confused me agreed. Kim and Emily stayed on the rock, while Claire and Quil lead the way to a hidden path that spiraled up the hill. I followed them, walking quietly alongside Seth and Jacob with Leah sullenly bringing up the rear. When we got to the top, I was surprised to see that it was a flat, circular area that overlooked the entire road.

Now, from a bird's eye view, I could now see the racecourse. The road was about five miles long, and small buckets lined the course the wolves would have to run. Another path near the side showed how to get off the tall area, but it was blocked off with several cones. From my place at the top of the cliff, I could see that the road went in a circle from the starting line to the finish line. And, since we were so high up, all I had to do to watch the whole race was to move my head slightly.

Two howls from below sounded, and we all went to the other side of the cliff to see the teams ready. Sam had Emily lounged securely on his back, and Jared had Kim in a similar position. Paul and Embry sat on the side, ready for their turn. Little Claire hopped onto Quil's shoulders, and cupped her hands over her mouth.

"On your mark!" she said in a clear voice. The wolves crouched down, feet –or paws– positioned. "Get set!" They exchanged looks with the opposing team. Both wolves snickered noises that sounded like laughs, while Emily and Kim both rolled their eyes. "GO!"

Jared took off first, his glorious brown fur making him appear as if he was a cheetah stalking his prey. But before he got very far, Sam bounded past him with Emily cheering on his back. Jared snarled, and pushed himself further, with encouragement from Kim. They passed by a bucket that marked the path as two miles, and the crowd next to me excitedly yelled at them.

I watched Emily and Kim, completely amazed. How was it that they could hang on, keep their eyes open, and not puke? Emily looked like she was born to ride a wolf, and Kim looked so comfortable that she might as well have been riding on a walking sofa! I took in a deep breath, glancing sideways at Claire, who was still on Quil's shoulders. If a thirteen-year-old girl could ride without hurling, I could too.

Sam and Emily were approaching the staring line again, and Sam suddenly braked to a halt. Emily jumped off his back and ran the quarter of a mile distance to Paul. By then, Jared and Kim had also approached the braking line, and Kim did a neat tuck-and-roll off Jared and sprinted towards Embry. She got to Embry first, and dived onto him, fingers tightly grabbing his fur. Embry shot off, barely touching the ground as he hurried to maintain their lead. Paul let out a growl and dove after them as soon as Emily was on his back.

I didn't realize how exciting it would be to watch them, and I cheered with the other Quileutes. Leah's bad mood had even dropped, and she now was chanting for Paul and Emily. Jacob, still in wolf form, howled to the moon as they ran, obviously cheering for his favorite team too. As both wolves approached the finish line, neck to neck, I bounced up and down with Claire, thrilled. Paul broke away from Jared, passing the chalked line just seconds before his opponent could.

There was cheering, and groaning. Quil reluctantly reached into his pocket, pulled out a crisp bill, and handed it to Seth. He also handed another bill to Leah, and Claire shook her head at him.

"You guys bet on who's going to win?" I asked.

"Yep. Quil's pretty good at it, but he's hit a drought," Claire replied. "I caught him trying to break open my piggybank once, just because he was running low on cash."

Jacob nudged me. _We're up next_. I sighed and followed him off the cliff. As we were heading down, we passed by Kim and Emily, who were laughing together at their beloveds, who followed them. All of the wolves were barebacked, wearing only jeans or sweatpants. Jared playfully pushed Sam, and Sam responded with a push back.

My team consisted of Jacob and Seth, who looked like a miniature Jacob after he transformed. Quil, whose fur was a rich chocolate brown, had Claire gently resting on his shoulder blades, and Leah stood next to him as a smaller silver wolf. I climbed on Jacob's back, letting out a soft sigh. Jacob looked up at me. _You ready?_

"If I puke on you, I'm sorry."

He barked a laugh, and then he and Quil let out a howl. Emily appeared over us, her good eye glistening with enthusiasm. "On your mark!" she called, her voice soft for Claire and me, but probably loud enough for all the wolves. Jacob went down into a crouch, and I grabbed fistfuls of his fur. "Get set!" Jacob looked at Quil, and gave him a wolfish smile. "GO!"

Jacob took off, almost throwing me off him as he bounded around the course. I kept my eyes open, watching Claire hang on and smile at her surroundings. I actually didn't feel as sick as I thought I would –maybe it was because I had ridden Jacob a few times already– and I cheered encouragement to Jacob as we rounded one of the course's turns.

Quil and Claire were several paces behind us, and even though Quil was obviously pushing himself, he couldn't keep up with Jacob's almost superior speed. Claire's heartening words seemed to fuel him, and he tried harder and harder with each twist and turn.

We passed the bucket marking two miles, and I knew our lead was going to come down to me running to Seth. I was never a good runner; everyone knew that. Why else had my own father laughed at the idea of me going running with Jacob? I could barely walk over a bare surface without falling on my face! I wrapped my fingers more tightly around a bunch of Jacob's fur, and watched as we zoomed past the three-mile bucket.

I could see Seth in the distance now, pacing in front of the line with his dark ears alert. When he saw us, he threw back his head in an excited yelp. His older sister scowled next to him, impatiently waiting for Quil and Claire. I listened carefully, and could now hear the encouraging cries from above. I bit my lip, hoping that I would get some inhuman speed to run. God knows how embarrassed I would feel if Claire beat me in a foot race.

Suddenly, I heard a loud gasp from the top of the cliff. There was the sound of screaming, and then I saw Sam fall from above us, landing with an almost feline crouch on the ground. "Stop!" he bellowed, and Jacob instantly skidded to a stop. Quil and Claire appeared next to him, both breathing hard and confused. The other Quileutes were running down the hill, gathering around Sam with curious expressions on their faces. The wolves started to communicate through their telepathy, and their puzzlement seemed to deepen as they listened to Sam.

Emily grabbed Sam's arm. "Sam, honey, what is it?"

"I didn't know they were traveling so fast," he mumbled, eyes focusing at the moon. "I thought we had a few more days, a week even, before we would even come face to face with them. The skies haven't told us anything…"

"Who's coming?" Kim asked nervously. "More wolves?"

"No," Sam replied quietly. "A bigger threat. The wolf hunters."

"Wolf hunters?" Embry asked in disbelief.

"Yes, wolf hunters. Sometimes, certain werewolves want to be the only shifters in a certain area. So, calling themselves the hunters of their own kind, they find werewolves and torture them in any ways possible." Sam furrowed his brow, clenching his teeth as he spoke. "The elders told me stories, stories about how if you can last a conversation with them while seeming a hundred percent human, they leave you alone."

A memory popped up in my mind. When Charlie had come home from fishing, on the same day I had researched werewolves on the computer, he had told me that some sort of poacher had whipped a wolf pup to death. These hunters…could it be possible that they were responsible for the beating of the innocent wolf? Was it possible that the wolf had actually been a shifter? A shiver ran through my spine.

"Then that's all we have to do then." Jacob's voice made me jump, and I spun around to find him in human form. He had changed back and pulled on some clothing while the rest of us were transfixed by Sam's words. Quil and Seth had done the same, while Leah was missing. I scanned the area, and finally saw her appearing from behind one of the large rocks. I mentally slapped myself. Of course, she had to disappear when she shifted between human and wolf form. Females had much more clothing to put on, while the male wolves only had to throw on pants.

"Yeah, we can just say we're watching the moon," Seth chimed in.

The wolves all considered this, and Sam finally nodded in agreement. "But we have to keep our telepathy to a minimum," he cautioned. "These hunters are wolves as well, which means that they will hear us communicating if we do so. Keep your thoughts as human as possible."

We positioned ourselves on several of the large rocks, making as much small talk as we could. Jacob and I struggled to find an easy topic to speak about, but both of us were too anxious to even chat with Quil and Claire who occupied the same rock.

"I'm so sorry, Bella," Jacob whispered finally. "I should've known…"

Before he could even finish his sentence, his breath stopped. Around me, I could hear the other wolves cease speaking and focus on the path marked off by buckets, the path that showed how to get off the mountain-like area. Three figures were slowly emerging from the shadowed edge, and Jacob's hand gripped mine as their faces became clear to me.

They all stood in a triangular formation, the female in front obviously showing who the leader was. All were dressed in dark clothing, the type of fancy dresses and suits that a Hollywood starlet would wear to a dinner party. But what surprised me the most was that at the feet of each of the ravishing hunter was a wolf. Jacob's lips twitched, as if he was resisting the urge to snarl at them.

The female at the front of the hunters, the leader I supposed, was clearly the most pulchritudinous. Her hair glowed in the moonlight, making it seem as if it was a brilliant shade of dark blue rather than black. She wore a dark gray gown that ended just at her ankles, with a rhinestone belt buckle at her hip. The gray wolf at her side was an identical color to her dress, and was attached to her by a matching rhinestone-encrusted leash.

The lone male looked like something out of a James Bond movie, with his mahogany-colored hair framing his face in spikes and waves, creating an almost faux hawk appearance. The elegant suit he wore seemed too grand, too impossibly perfect with every crease and fold, to be ever worn by any human on earth. Yet, somehow, it seemed like a perfect fit for him, as did the small black wolf that sauntered at his feet. The leash was made of what appeared to be black velvet, something less elaborate than the female leaders.

The last female seemed to hang back slightly, hovering just behind the leader. Dark brown hair was gathered in a complex chic bun at the crown of her head, reminding me faintly of Priya, the waitress at the restaurant in Port Angeles. Her strapless black dress had several detailed ruffles along the top, and a belt at her waist had a leash tucked into it, connecting it to a wolf that was a deep silver color with tints of black beneath its fur. The female's brown eyes glistened with intelligence.

"Oh, we thought we heard some people," the leaders said in a harmonious tone. "It's always nice to watch a full moon, especially on this cliff." She motioned to the rocks we sat on.

Sam hopped off his seat, simpering a smile that seemed too friendly to be really Sam. "Yes, it is rather lovely," he said sociably. "It's so sad that it's closed off to the public so often." Some of the other boys nodded in agreement.

"Really? We didn't bump into any signs that suggested it was closed off," the leader mused.

"Actually, what she means is that she didn't bother to read any signs that we passed," the male said, his sweet tone almost as forced as Sam's smile. "I'm assuming you are all part of the Quileute tribe?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I'm Sam. This is my tribal family." He motioned towards all of us, and I felt a sense of shock as he pointed to me. Wasn't it obvious that Emily, Claire, Kim, and I looked nothing like the other Quileutes?

"I am Valeska," the leader said, "and this is Cain and Syrah." The wolves at her feet nudged her and Valeska chuckled. "Oh yes, and these are our dogs, Adham, Argento and Aranrhod. Do you have any room for us to watch the moon with you?"

"Actually," Emily said, "we were just about heading back to the reservation. We should warn you, though, our elders can get rather angry if we allow any visitors onto this area."

"We'll take that into consideration," Valeska laughed.

One of the wolves, the one belonging to Syrah, stepped forward and pointed her muzzle towards us. Claire, assuming the role of an innocent little girl, smiled at the creature.

"She's beautiful," she said admiringly, the childlike tone to her voice almost easing the conversation.

"Yes, that's Aranrhod," Syrah said dryly. The wolf pulled at her leash, and Syrah released it from her belt with one swift motion. The creature went straight to Claire, examining her with abnormally green eyes. Aranrhod pressed her nose to Claire's shirt, and she giggled. Next, the wolf went to Emily and then Kim, sniffing them carefully. Finally, Aranrhod came to me and sniffed my arm. I felt Jacob tense next to me, and I squeezed his hand as the wolf stepped back, trotting back to her mistress.

Suddenly, I felt the other wolves stiffen. I didn't understand why, though. Aranrhod turned back to us, hidden evilness glowing in her eyes, and she let out a soft growl. Syrah whipped her head back to us, her brown eyes narrowing as she realized something that Aranrhod had told her.

What happened next was too fast for my eyes and was not what I expected.

Syrah rolled back her lips in a menacing snarl, and she suddenly ran forward, her gladiator sandals barely touching the ground as she sprinted towards us. At the same time, I felt Jacob's hand disappear from mine as he jumped forward to protect me. Fur burst from his body, reducing his pants into a pile of fabric, and he slammed into Syrah before she stepped to close. The noise sounded like two boulders crashing into each other, and they both fell back to the ground.

Jacob was in between us and the hunters, his teeth showing as well as he growled ferociously at Syrah. Syrah was in a crouch, matching Jacob's growl with several snarls and spits in his direction. The other Quileutes had pulled themselves into various defensive positions, standing quickly in front of the wolf-girls. Cain had drawn a pair of horrible-looking knives from his suit pocket, fully ready to cover Syrah. Valeska was the only one who stared at us with open surprise.

"It seems we have to learn about you, Quileutes," she said cautiously. "Aranrhod can detect a group of werewolves and their imprinted ones a mile away." She snapped her fingers, and Syrah and Cain reluctantly relaxed their positions. Jacob backed away from them, standing in front of me with narrowed amber eyes. "If you don't mind, we're going to be still here watching the moon. You are welcome to join us." And with a wave of her hand, Valeska sat down on one of the rocks next to her lapdog of a wolf.

Jacob, still in wolf form, began to walk up the road, pulling me along. Seth and Embry stood on ether side of me, eyes staring straight ahead without blinking. When we were a good distance away, I turned my head slightly. Valeska, Syrah, and Cain were all sitting on the rock, heads turned to the moon, but eyes focused on us. I bit the inside of my cheek, peeling my eyes away from them and clutching the fur of my guardian wolf.

Something inside of me told me that this wasn't the last time we would see them, nor was it the last time we were to be in contact. These hunters were going to find us, whether we liked it or not.

* * *

Dun dun dun! Now, if you check your Twilight book, you know the real hunt is just about to begin :D

But, I have to admit, how awesome are the hunters' names? I mean come on; Syrah...Valeska...Cain...evilness is practically seeping from the letters! :D Thanks very much to my name-suggesters :)

Curious about how their outfits looked? Check out my profile page for really cool pictures! :)

Review sweeties! And maybe, just maybe, I'll update a little faster :P And no, I'm not threatening you :D

~Geneth


	17. The Hunt & Goodbyes

To my American readers, happy Fourth of July! To my other readers, hi, how are you? :D

Oh God, so much has happened recently. I found out, via PM, that this story has been nominated AGAIN! This time, it's for the Indie Twific Awards, a wonderful site by fellow authors **Hmonster4** and **Gustariana**. I'm super excited for this contest, particularly because there's a category for Alternate Universe, Most Original Story Line, and Most Romantic Moment. So, voting begins from **7/8** to **7/12**. Go to theindietwificawards dot com/vote dot aspx to vote when the date comes around. Thanks guys :D

~Geneth

PS Warnings for this chapter: X-Men Origins: Wolverine reference (b/c I thought it was cool to tie it in and b/c I strangely love that movie); a smarty-pants 13-year-old (Claire is my little Hermione); use of song lyrics to express Bella's trauma in a nightmare (I hate the song, but I thought it fit...); and an explanation on how it's like to transform into a werewolf (kinda freaky, I have to admit). Enjoy :P

* * *

By the time we got to Jacob's car, I was sure that Jacob was going to have some sort of emotional breakdown. His face was aggravated, eyes narrowed and nose slightly scrunched up as if he smelled something bad. He pulled open the back door with unnecessary force, and then practically pushed me in. Embry climbed in next to me, slamming the door behind us. Seth was already in the front seat, and Jacob started the engine and hit the gas peddle at the same time.

We were driving fast, too fast if you asked me. As we were gaining speed, I peeked out the window to see the **YOU ARE NOW LEAVING FORKS** sign on the side of the road.

"What the…Where the hell are we going?"

No one responded. Seth was looking out the window, looking depressed. Embry's hands were in fists, and Jacob was still staring blankly at the road, his foot never lifting from the peddle.

"God, what the hell is wrong with you guys? Take me home, damn it!" When no one spoke again, I unlocked the door next to me, fully ready to perform a tuck-and-roll and head for the hills.

Jacob's eyes looked up into the rearview mirror, and Embry's head snapped towards me. He leaned over, using one arm to push me against the seat and the other to shut the door. I bit my lip angrily. Stupid telepathy…

"Listen, you can take me where you want, but you have to remember that Charlie is the chief. He's going to go wolf hunting for your entire pack if you don't tell me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" I felt horrible threatening them like that, but it was possibly the only way to receive some sort of human response from any of them

Seth sighed. "Jake, pull over." Jacob's hands gripped the wheel harder, and the speedometer moved up by an inch. "Jacob, we need to talk this through before we do anything irrational."

"You want to hear irrational?" Jacob said, almost snapping at him. "We could hear what those monsters were thinking in their head! That damn huntress told Syrah that Bella isn't my imprinted one!"

"Jacob…"

"That traitor knows that Bella is easy prey! All of the wolf-girls are mentally and physically attached to their wolf, so if Syrah were to kill, say, Claire, Quil would stop at nothing to murder her. But Bella…" His voice cracked as he said my name. "Bella's not connected to me through imprint…so I won't become some killing machine if she dies and Syrah knows that…Which is why we have to get her out of Forks!" The speedometer began to move up again.

"Jacob, listen to me," Seth said. "She's no match for all of us wolves. Let's just take her back to Forks, discuss a plan with Sam, and then we can…"

"No!" He slammed his hand into the wheel. "You don't understand, Seth! She's a wolf huntress! As soon as she sets her mind on something, she is going to go after it until she or the victim is dead!" His hand thumped against the wheel again.

"Jacob, that's it! We'll kill her." Embry grinned at his recommendation.

"But if we kill her, we're going to have to kill the male as well," Seth pointed out. "I think they're mates. Hell, we might as well kill Valeska while we're at it."

"There is no time! What don't you understand about that?!" Jacob's husky voice ripped up two octaves, and Embry and I stared at him in shock.

"There's another option," Seth said, the only one still calm and unsurprised by Jacob's eruption. "All we have to do is take Bella home." Jacob opened his mouth to object, but Seth cut him off. "She can tell her dad that she doesn't want to be in Forks anymore, with whatever story she wants. She packs her bags, drives away, and then we can take her anywhere without her dad freaking out and calling the FBI on us. We'll probably have a few days before anyone suspects anything and, by then, we would've distracted the huntress long enough for her to give up and find another pack to bother."

We all stared at him, stunned. Seth, the youngest of all the wolves and most of the wolf-girls, had outsmarted us. Embry was nodding, agreeing to the plan, but Jacob still looked unsure.

"I don't think it's the best idea…"

"Jacob, we can't just leave Charlie," I said softly. I leaned forward, my face resting on the back of his seat. He looked up, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror. "Please," I begged in a small voice.

He let out a deep breath, and then turned the steering wheel sharply to the left. The Rabbit's tires screeched and I flew back into my seat. Jacob smiled a familiar smirk, and then pushed the car back into the lane and back into Forks.

"I'll take Bella," Seth said as we drove along, speaking ever so casually. "We need to make sure that Bella isn't traveling with you, Jake, because the huntress will probably assume that you're going to try and protect her any chance you get. I'm thinking we take her to Phoenix, because Syrah isn't going to really believe that we're taking Bella where we're really taking her."

"Good point," Jacob mumbled, reluctantly pulling the car to a stop at a traffic light. "Take Quil and Claire with you too. Quil's good with hand-to-hand combat, and Claire's pretty smart with medicine for a girl her age. We'll have to think of something to tell Claire's mom…"

"Isn't she staying with Emily for a week?" Embry asked.

"Oh right, I nearly forgot. So it all works out then…" Seth smiled.

"It better," Jacob said under his breath as we pulled up in front of Charlie's house. "Or all hell will break loose…"

"Jacob, get the hell away from me!" I screeched, slamming the door as I entered the house. Fake tears –made from water straight out of a Poland Spring bottle– ran down my face as I stormed up the steps and threw the door shut behind me. Jacob was already in my room, his palms scratched from climbing up the ivy on the back wall too quickly. He had one of my bags in one hand, and was emptying a drawer with another.

"Nice performance," he joked lightly, not even looking at what he was putting in the bag.

"Thanks, but it's not over yet," I whispered back.

"Bella? Bella? Isabella Marie Swan, open the door this instant!" Charlie's fist pounded against the door, and the desperate note to his voice put me to near tears.

"Go away!" I screamed, as angrily as I could. My voice cracked as I yelled, giving me the perfect mixture of anger and sadness in my tone.

"What happened with Jacob? Did he hurt you?"

"No! It was something worse!" Jacob zipped up my bag, his eyebrows raised and I smiled sheepishly. "I realized that I'm never going to go anywhere –in love, in life– in this damn town! If I fall in love now, who's to say I'm going to end up like Mom in ten years? I'm going to be held down by this damn place, when all I really want to do is GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" I slammed my drawers shut for effect, and Jacob handed me my full bags.

"I'll see you downstairs," he said, kissing my cheek for luck before diving soundlessly out the window.

I thundered down the stairs, nearly running over Charlie at the bottom. "Bella, please, just give it one more chance…"

"There are no more chances!" I said, throwing my mother's last words at him. "I gave Forks a million of those, but my answer is the same. I am never coming back here, ever again!" I brushed past him, fighting back more tears. He ran after me, but I was already in my truck by the time he came outisde. "I'll call you when I get to the airport," I yelled before I pulled my car out of the driveway and into the street.

I drove for a while, biting my lip to prevent the waterworks. Jacob's face suddenly appeared in the driver's window, and I pulled the car over. He opened the door, lifted me carefully up, and sat down in the seat, driving along as if nothing was wrong. I was now on his lap, and I buried my face in his chest.

"I'm such a bad person," I muttered.

He started to chuckle, but stopped when he realized I was being serious. "We've all said bad things to our fathers," he said wisely. "Besides, you're doing this to keep him safe, remember?

"Now I'm regretting it," I admitted. "I said the same thing my mom said when she left him, and Forks. I'm such an idiot." A single tear ran down my face, and Jacob gently wiped it away with his free hand.

"Believe me, Bella, there are a lot more idiots in the world than you. For example, look at me." He let out a sigh. "Syrah knew you weren't connected to anybody the instant her little pet smelled you. She might've even considered sparing us for an instant if I hadn't tensed. I made it worse by shifting and defending you when she threatened you. Now, Syrah's just doing all out of spite and because she wants to see me squirm." He paused, turning the car onto a familiar road leading to the Quileute reservation. "But, if I hadn't done anything, you wouldn't be in my arms right now. I guess the only option right now is your plan, and the fact that we have to kill Syrah."

"How can you kill a werewolf, anyways? I know it's not silver bullets and all…"

"There are two options. One is to rip the werewolf's heart out. The human body can't regenerate body parts, so if you take out something that can't come back, the shifter will eventually die. The other…is to shoot them in the brain."

"Why is that the other option?"

"Well, if we were to, for example, give a werewolf a splinter, the werewolf's body would heal over it if the splinter isn't pulled out. If the splinter is still inside the body, it still hurts like hell. If a werewolf has a bullet in the brain, and the body heals over it, he or she will wake up with no memory. The bullet would've already damaged the brain, and the body can't heal internal organs."

I managed a smile. "So, it's kind of like an X-Men reference?"

He laughed, appreciating my attempt to break the tense atmosphere. "Exactly like an X-Men reference. Think of us like cooler versions of Wolverine."

We pulled up in front of Sam's house, and Jacob poked his head out the window before opening the door. Jared and Quil appeared in front of us in an instant, and Jacob gingerly picked me up, pushing me into Jared's equally massive chest. Jared ran into the house, Quil running next to him without breaking a stride.

Much to all of our surprise, Valeska was sitting in the living room, her long legs crossed and partially hidden by her large pet wolf. She seemed stressed although, and I had to admit, she still looked good doing so. Jacob growled at her and her wolf growled back in response.

"I'm terribly sorry Syrah decided to hunt you," Valeska said, her melodic voice ringing with emotion. "I was fully ready to leave your party alone, but Syrah insisted that we do a quick check on you. In addition to that, Aranrhod was eager to be free from her leash so…"

Sam's tone was unsympathetic. "Has she ever backed down from a hunt before?"

"Never, in all of the years I've known her. Once she sets her mind to something, she will get it complete or kill herself trying. Her skills, as a human and a shifter, are beyond anything I've ever seen. She can blend in whatever environment you throw at her, and speak any language possible. Yet she can shift faster than one could blink, and can track someone down using only a single hair as reference. That's partly the reason why I invited her to join me on our…cross-country tour."

Jacob snarled again, a noise that sounded like thunder erupting from his throat, and Valeska rose gracefully, understanding that her stay at Sam's house had just ended.

"I am truly sorry for Syrah, and I have to admit that werewolves in this world do help our society. Thus, I'm thinking of heading up to Canada to change…Perhaps you can give me the tribal name of the group that lives up there, so I have somewhere to start…?" Sam frowned, glaring at her with dark eyes. After a moment, she sighed, receiving the telepathy. "Thank you and good luck. Come, Argento." She snapped her fingers and her trained wolf followed her out the door.

Silence lasted for maybe a few seconds before Jacob turned to Leah. "Leah, we need to disguise her scent and her appearance for a while. Trade clothing with her."

Leah's head turned to her ex-friend, eyes full of loathing. I remembered my first day of school, and how close they had been, sharing school notes and inside jokes at the lunch table. Had I really pulled them apart with my presence? "I'm not trading clothing with _her_," she snapped. "Why do I have to get involved with nuisance that's given nothing but trouble since she's came here? She's not my damn problem, and I don't give a donkey's ass what happens to her."

"Nether do I. She's just been a big problem since Jacob decided to fall head over heels with her, and everything happening now proves our point," Paul said, his voice almost smug

I flinched. Their words seemed to drip with venom, and it felt like someone had taken a knife and cut out all of the hope I had in me.

"I'll change with her," Kim said quietly, stepping forward to grab my arm securely. "It looks like we're about the same size." She started to walk me out of the room, but I still heard the final words that came from both Jacob and Emily's mouth.

"What the hell is your problem, you damn bi…"

"Jacob, stop it. I know you're stressed, but don't take it out on Leah and Paul. And you two," –I could almost hear her pointing at Paul and Leah– "I'll talk to later. Now come on; we don't have any time to loose!"

Kim shut the door closed behind us, and I struggled to see in the dimly lit room. I pulled off my hoodie and jeans, and watched as Kim opened a drawer and pulled out black slacks and a striped t-shirt dress.

"We wolf-girls have a lot of sleepovers," she explained to me as she pulled off her clothing and traded it with mine. "It's our way of connecting, especially when the guys go out to feast and there's nothing to do. You'll love them…" She said this with a smile and I couldn't help but smile back. The way Kim spoke those words made it seem like I would make it, that everything would be back to normal soon.

We hurried back into the living room. Leah, Paul, and Emily were all gone, the front door agape. Kim went to Jared's side, her eyes meeting his in an instant. He put his hand to her cheek, and she put her own hand on top of his. With a smile, he kissed her on her forehead and lifted her onto his back with one arm. She turned, gave me a thumbs-up, and they disappeared together out the door. At least they got to spend every second of this ordeal together.

Jacob suddenly appeared next to me. He put his hand under my chin, lifted my head up, and gave me a hard kiss on the lips. I got ready to kiss back, but he pulled away before I could react. "I love you," he whispered into my ear, "and I always will have you in my heart." He put my hand to his bare chest, to his own swiftly beating heart, and then released me. With another small smile in my direction, he ran out the front door.

Sam stood next to me now. "Be careful, Bella," he said and I nodded. "Quil, Seth, and Claire will be there to help you, so don't do anything stupid. Hopefully, this will all be over soon…" With a sigh, he raced off after the rest of the pack.

"Are you ready, Bella?" Seth asked, in a voice that sounded too much like Jacob. I stifled a sob and nodded. He held out an arm. "May I?" His tone was teasing, and I forced myself to smile. Quil and Claire were right next to us, Claire already on Quil's back.

"Of course," I replied, and he lifted me onto his back with a similar swiftness and gentleness of Jacob. And, before I knew it, we ran out the door and into a spacious car. Quil dropped Claire off in the back seat with me while Seth started the engine. The second Quil sat down in the driver's seat, he pulled the car out of the street and drove it quickly down the road. I peeked over my shoulder at the house I had grown to love, wondering if I'd ever see it again.

We walked swiftly to the airport's ticket desk, and it nearly put a smile on my face as I watched Quil and Seth turn on the charm. Quil's voice was practically dripping honey, and Seth –young Seth– was the perfect little angel who slipped the stunned flight attendant the magic MasterCard. The flight attendant looked way too old to date ether of the wolves, yet she bumped us up to first class for the price of coach.

I watched Claire and Quil while we're waiting for the plane to lift off, out of the pure habit of people watching. I remembered Jacob's words about imprinting, how they can be together despite their ages, and something inside me tried to trigger the tears. She was holding his hand in her seat, and she looked so small, so fragile, in the big first class chair. He never took his eyes off her, and as the other passengers begin to file into the plane, I could tell that some of them were doing double-takes as they saw them in their chairs. Eventually, after we were in the air and it was safe to take off seatbelts, Quil and Claire lifted the armrests of their chairs, and rested their heads on each other's shoulders. Tears started to spill out, and I somehow cried myself to sleep on Seth's shoulder. He didn't seem to mind; he was too preoccupied by the flight movie. Besides, I didn't have any feelings towards Seth. He was like the younger brother I never had, who was bigger than I was.

For some reason, the rest of what happened that night was all blank to me. I somewhat remember landing, Claire and I grabbing the bags, Seth helping me get into the cab…But nothing was set in stone. It's almost as if there were unimportant memories in which I forgot, or forced myself to forget.

Whatever happened, though, didn't matter. I woke up in a room smelling of that cheap hotel air freshener. Passed out on the other bed next to mine was Claire, her light brown curls messily thrown all over her cherubic face. She must've felt my eyes on her, for she stirred and let out a yawn. She sat up, stretching, and met my gaze.

"Oh, good morning, Bella," she said, climbing out from under the thick comforter. "I think the boys are outside…Are you hungry?"

"Just a little," I admitted.

"Hopefully, Quil didn't already raid the mini-bar and the mini-fridge…" She sighed, opening one of the small pink bags at the end of the bed and pulling out a graphic tee and a jean skirt. I followed her lead, taking Kim's clothing off with great care and shrugging into my more familiar clothing.

Claire and I entered the living room of the hotel suite, and noticed Seth fast asleep on the couch, his hair sticking up all over his head. Quil was the only one awake, and he was eating straight out of an economy-sized bag of potato chips.

"Quil!" Claire exclaimed, shocked as she pulled the bag from Quil's hands. "You know we're going down for breakfast in a little while. Why are you eating?"

"What, you think they're going to let me eat everything at the buffet?" He took the bag back from her. "Besides, anything in this place is already covered by us paying for the room with Sam's credit card. It's also for your own good, sweetie, or you're going to wake up to me gnawing your leg off."

Seth let out a loud yawn, and he sat up from the couch and sniffed the air. "Someone eating chips or something?" He turned his head and saw the large bag in Quil's hands. "Oh sweet, give me some!"

Claire snatched the bag back, and rolled the top shut. "You guys can eat later," she said, "but I think you should go change into decent clothing and wait thirty minutes so we can hit the buffet. Now go on!" For such a small and petite girl, she ruled the boys with the wolf-mother authority of Emily. And, even more surprisingly, they listened to her and went into the other room to change.

"You have to show me how to do that," I teased as we sat down on the couch to wait.

"Sure, I'll show you later if you want," she said with easy familiarity. "It's kind of easy; once you are able to manipulate one, the other one follows."

"I heard that!" Quil called from the other room, and we both giggled.

We watched television for exactly twenty-eight minutes before the starving werewolves hurried out of the room and into the elevator. Breakfast was quiet, with Claire eating at the pace of a normal child her age, and Quil and Seth eating thirds before I even finished one plate. They had to stop at fifths though, because the manager was getting suspicious about where all the food was going. It kind of made matters worse for them, because only five people were in the cafeteria with us, and all five of them were elderly grandparents.

We returned to the room, and sat in the living room, watching a channel that never stopped play music videos. None of us really paid attention to what was going on, but the music seemed to soothe the atmosphere. Seth was out on the patio, napping again and soaking up the sun that was rarely seen in Forks, while Quil was attempting to make non-alcoholic drinks off the recipes he got from his iTouch. Claire was skimming through one of the books she had brought with her, and I suddenly wished I had thought of bringing entertainment with me. A new music video began on the television, and strange music began pulsing from the speakers just as I was drifting into sleep…

_**Black dress…with the tights underneath…**_

_Syrah was walking towards Jacob, my Jacob, and the other wolves, her wolf next to her and her dress swishing on the floor like a mop. She had a horrible looking whip in one hand, and she cracked it against the wall. The wall gave a loud crunch, and then fell backwards into millions of dusty pieces. She turned back to the werewolves, who were all trapped in a corner. Jacob and Sam were in the front, but I knew they weren't going to last long. In a blink of an eye, all of the werewolves had shifted, fully ready to take on Syrah, who had her whip in her hand and was ready to let all hell break loose._

_**You tell your boyfriend…if he says he's got beef…**_

_The wolves all crouched down, ready to pounce. Syrah prepared as well._

_**That I'm a vegetarian…and I ain't effing scared of him…**_

_The chorus of the song started up, and all of the werewolves jumped into the air, seeking Syrah's throat. But Syrah flicked her whip out, and the long piece of leather hit the first line of attacks, sending them all to the ground whimpering. Aranrhod also pounced, slamming into a small gray wolf with the force of a meteorite. _

_The song was speeding up, the lyrics getting more and more graphic. With each new line came, and with each second of the song passing, all of my guardian wolves were falling to the ground. They continually healed themselves, but each time, it was getting harder for them to pull themselves to their own two feet. A shotgun was in the corner of the room, loaded and ready for someone to use it. But none of the wolves could pick it up with their paws or even get close to it. Syrah made sure of that. I opened my mouth to scream at them to try harder, to get back up, but nothing was coming out._

"_Bella? Bella? Bella, wake up! Bella!"_

A light jab in my stomach caused me to sit upright from the couch, and a hand muffled my screaming. I looked around, breathing heavily with relief that I was still in the hotel room. Claire was standing next to me, her book tucked under her arm and her face worried.

"Bella, I just wanted to let you know I'm going downstairs to eat lunch. You're welcome to keep sleeping, but I don't think we can bring a plate up for you without Quil and Seth eating at least half of it…"

"No, its fine," I said, jumping to my feet. "I'll come with you…" I looked around the room to find it empty. "Hey, where did the guys go?"

"Oh, they didn't want to wait for you, and I wanted to finish reading a part of my book, so I told them I'd bring you down. Knowing them, they probably ate half of the buffet by now." She smiled, grabbing the hotel key off the table and ushering me out of the room. It was so easy for me to think Claire was much older than her years, to even forget that she wasn't the same age as me. In a way, she had to grow up fast if she wanted to fit in with the other wolf-girls.

"What are you reading?" I asked, making conversation as we waited for the elevator.

"Oh nothing much; just something light." She shyly handed me her book, and I nearly fell to the ground. I hadn't noticed it before because it had been in her lap, but it was actually quite thick. And heavy. And it hurt. I turned it over to see the cover. **The Healing Remedies Encyclopedia. **I peeked at the back page and saw that it had about eight hundred pages.

"Emily gave it to me. I'm not supposed to be reading it all the time," she admitted as we entered the elevator. "My mom wants me to be a doctor, but I like doing things the natural way. I have another book in my bag on the anatomy of a wolf. You can borrow it if you like."

"Um, sure, thanks. I need to occupy myself with more than TV and sleeping…"

"Oh yeah…Bella, you were kind of talking in your sleep and I don't mean to be rude or anything…" Her face flushed pink slightly, and she focused on the elevator's button panel. "But were you having a dream about Jacob and…Syrah?"

It was now my turn to blush red. "Yeah. I'm just worried about them, you know? I know they're leading her off course right now, and that the others are taking care of Cain, but it still worries them because she has weapons and her wolf and she might…"

"Bella," she said suddenly, leaning over and gently squeezing my arm with her free hand, "they're going to be all right. Trust me; this will all be over and then we can go home and live out our lives."

"How do you know that?"

She smiled thinly, and the elevator doors opened to the cafeteria. "Because Quil told me the sky says it'll be over soon. And the sky never lies."

We got our food and sat down at an empty booth, with Quil and Seth nowhere in sight. Claire nibbled on the edge of her pizza, gingerly opening her book and reading quietly. I looked around the room, at the other people staying at the hotel, and sighed. My food sat on the table, slowly getting cold from neglect, and I peered at Claire's book upside down. A mixture of large words and flowers I have never heard of caused me to sit back in my chair. She looked up innocently, and the corners of her mouth twitched.

"Kind of interesting, right? It's like this book is a magic book from another time. Too bad it doesn't explain how to become a werewolf in here, huh? I could totally write five pages about it…"

I blinked at her with surprise. How did she know? "You're a werewolf too?"

"No, of course not. But I've seen Quil over the years become one. He's also told me old stories to scare me so I will never asked to become one but…it's complicated." She looked around, and ate another piece of her food before speaking. "I'll tell you what I know…but don't tell Jacob I did. He'd be really pissed at me…" I nodded, and held out my pinky to her. She held out hers, and we pinky-locked.

"Quil has it in his genetics, so he doesn't know about what happens when you become a werewolf through blood, but I sort of found out once. The Kitcisakiik tribe, who are friends of the Quileutes for years **(AN: I so made that up) **and live in Canada, came to speak to our elders and they decided to tell stories to us during the bonfire. One of the elders explained what happens when a werewolf's blood transfers from him to a human.

"At first, the blood sits in the human system, and then it begins to blend in with human blood. Slowly, it begins to take over the body. The more blood from the wolf in the system, the better. If the werewolf wants to give enough blood to make the human a werewolf, the blood must equal to five pints, or half of the average amount of blood in a human. Sometimes, the wolf donating can't provide enough or else he would faint, so the other wolves in his pack can volunteer to donate. Wolves don't die of blood loss, though, because their body is always generating more and more to keep up with them. As soon as everything settles down, the process that happens to all werewolves –genetic or blood made– happens.

"It all starts with a simple fever, as Quil says. You feel fine, but to everyone else, you have a fever of a sick person. You know how werewolves can like go out into a blizzard barebacked?" I nodded. "Well, that's how it all starts. Quil says eventually, you start feeling the fever and you feel as if your body's…changing. Like something inside of you is trying to be a different person or a different thing. You experience the worst types of body cramps, because a shifter's body has to grow so they can never age, and everything is growing, whether you want it to or not. The body aches from experiencing all of this, but it won't stop, and you'll get really tired from everything happening to you."

"I suppose you can sum it up so that's its like mono, except it doesn't take a month for it to pass –maybe a few weeks at most– and the cramps from everything…expanding, if you will, hurt much more. But once it's done, you feel somewhat human again. Your body is significantly aged, going from the body of a sixteen year old to the body of perhaps a twenty-five year old, and it makes you look related to the other wolves, at least in the Quileutes' case." Come to think of it, when I first saw the group of the Quileutes in the cafeteria, they all looked so similar to each other. "I don't think if, maybe, you and I were to change to werewolves, we would suddenly look like them

"Your speed also increases, partly because the part-wolf that's inside of you, and you find yourself able to run for miles at times without getting tired. Quil jokes that it's like your lungs have grown too. Your reflexes also increase, and the elders think it's because you need reflexes to shift faster and more easily. In addition, your sense of smell and hunger grows and finally, you're able to communicate with your new pack through the mind."

Claire sat back, satisfied with herself, while I stared at her with my mouth gaping. "So, that's it? The only thing I have to endure if I become werewolf is the weeks of everything…growing and adapting to shifting?" I asked.

"Well, not just that. You also have to get used to starving yourself during the week, because your stomach also expands and demands more food. Even when Leah became a wolf, she had a big appetite. She still does. When I go over to Emily's house, I have to eat before everyone else, and in another room, because the wolves are going to be eating more than we can make." She gestured towards the buffet next to us. "This is equal to maybe a fifth of an average werewolf's stomach. That's why they go out and eat a whole pack of deer each."

Suddenly, a loud noise sounded from behind me and Claire looked over my shoulder. "Oh dear God," she groaned, getting to her feet. I turned around and saw the chef dragging Quil and Seth by their ears towards us. Of course, the chef was probably hurting himself more than he was hurting them, but they were putting on a pretty good show of flailing and wincing. I got to my feet, knowing I would have to help Claire. It was the least I could do to thank her for giving me the information I needed to know.

* * *

So, would **you** want to become a werewolf if that's all you had to endure?

Review please! And don't forget to vote for **Twilight: Reversed Roles** between **7/8** to **7/12**!

~Geneth

PS If you find a typo, please PM or review saying so. I didn't send this chapter to my "editors", so there might be some stupid mistake somewhere...


	18. Quick News :P

Hey guys!

No, sorry, I don't have a new chapter :( Yeah...I'm on vacation right now but I promise that I'll have another chapter up in at least a week!

I'm just writing to remind you guys that the Indie Twific Awards is going on right now and this story is up, thanks to one of you awesome readers/reviewers. So, please go vote for it for it in...

**~Best Alternate Universe  
~Best Characterization  
~Best Non ExB Storyline  
~Most Original Storyline  
~Most Romantic Moment **(any chapter you like XD)

Go to TheIndieTwificAwars DOT com/vote DOT aspx...

Thanks so much guys! I'll talk to you soon!

~Geneth


	19. Impatience & Phone Call

Hey guys! :)

Sorry for holding off on the updates; I did a little vacationing in Vegas (I know! Going to a **desert** in the **summer** is absolutely brutal!) and had a lot of fun. Two Twilight (and Edward!) related things happened: 1) I met a guy who (I swear to God!) looked, talked, and acted like Edward...but his name was **Jacob**!!!! How freaky is that? 2) I met (and I'm not racist! So don't start with me!) the Asian equivalent of Edward Cullen. Damn; he was so hot that my sister turned her head to check him out and she bumped into a lamp post! Sighh...  
Okay, enough day dreaming on my part. Let's get down to business!

Enjoy the chapter-before-the-fight-scene! What's to come? A horrible storm (or two horrible storms), a small bit of Bella cursing (!), some very descriptive language about the two "rooms" (took me so long to get it right), a muffled word that you might not get if you don't think about it (I felt weird writing the actual word down, so I typed a bunch of letters and hopefully you guys get it!) and some mushy-gushy Jacob imagery by Bella :D

~Geneth

PS You might notice that I keep calling Seth's phone a Sidekick, and I never directly call it a "phone" or a "cell phone". That's because I asked a friend if a Sidekick was really a phone, and he went into this whole speech about how a Sidekick is better than just a normal cell phone. That's for his part; sorry for the repetition :D

* * *

Luckily, Quil and Seth got off with a warning. I later found out that they had sneaked into the kitchen to grab some more food. The chef had found Seth with several pieces of bacon in his mouth and Quil attempting to scarf down a whole chicken. Claire let them have it when we returned to the room, and I sat on the couch, slightly amused that Quil actually looked sorry when he apologized to his love. Figures; I bet all of the wolves had soft spots for their imprinted ones.

Claire took her book and pretended to hit Quil's arm with it. At the same time, a loud clap of thunder sounded from outside. Claire jumped back in shock, falling on her butt with her book in her hands.

"Oh my God, did I really hit you that hard?" she said, eyes wide.

"I didn't know there was a storm today," Seth said as he opened the screen door and stepped outside. The balcony had a small roof that covered the majority of the area, so we all sat in the shade as the rain came falling down from the large clouds. Seth and Quil stared at them curiously, nodding their heads in synchronization,

"Well? What's going to happen this week?" I asked.

"We're going to get kicked out of the cafeteria and forced to eat room service," Seth said, shaking his head while laughing lightly. "That's actually better for the people who eat at the cafeteria…and the chefs."

The boys returned to their cloud watching, and I exchanged a look with Claire. She was just as clueless as I was about the whole "future-telling-sky" idea, but the way she faked interest was amazing. There was a lot that I had to learn with the whole wolf-girl concept. I bit my lip and stared up at the cloudy sky again. I peered over the edge of a building to see a rather monstrous cloud lurking in the mist.

Quil stared curiously at it, getting to his feet and stepping out into the rain to examine it. Seth slowly mimicked his movements, standing next to him in the drizzling precipitation. Suddenly, both of the wolves jumped in surprise and ran into the suite room, nearly slamming the door on our faces. Exchanging another look, we hurried in after them.

Seth was dialing a number on his Sidekick, his eyes panicked and frantic. Quil was pacing along the screen door, watching the clouds with a piece of hotel stationary now in hand. His hand seemed barely visible as it raced across the paper, his messy scrawl hardly legible. Claire went over to him, and she pulled at his elbow.

"Quil, what's going on?" He didn't respond, his eyes never leaving the sky as he continued his trance of staring and writing. "Quil? Is it something to do with Bella? Quil? Damn it, Quil, answer me!" Claire stamped her foot, something that often worked on breaking wolves out of trances. But Quil ignored her still, and I heard another distant voice pick up the phone on Seth's Sidekick.

"Sam," he said shortly, "something's changed." He paused, and then switched his voice to a low and fast tone that went to fast for my human ears. Finally, Seth sighed and made a grunting noise. "Call us back after your storm passes. Alright then." He flipped the phone close without saying goodbye, and flopped down on the couch. Quil had also broken out of his awkward state, and he slipped easily into the large armchair, examining his notes with a furrowed brow.

Claire walked cautiously towards him, sitting at the edge of his lap, with an annoyed expression on her face. "Okay," she said, her voice slightly cross, "explain."

"The huntress has changed directions."

Seth's sudden monotonic words made my blood run cold, and I felt my legs give way. I dropped to the carpeted floor on my knees, but no one came to help me up. Claire's full lips dropped open into a perfect circular shape, and she pulled the piece of hotel stationary from Quil's hands. She slowly read from it.

"There's two places where Syrah is going now. One of them is undecided, but the second area where the huntress will be is at the top of some sort of building, in a small little wooden house. The east and west side of the house is made of glass, and the ceiling can be opened by a special crank. The house is supported by various wooden beams, and there are lines of plants, but the huntress is going to push them away because…because she has a guest coming…" As she said this, Quil bent over for another pad of paper and started to sketch what she said. When he pulled his pencil off his paper, I somehow recognized the little house of glass.

"It's a greenhouse," I breathed, and all of my protectors looked up.

"You know this place?" Seth asked inquisitively.

"I used to take some Environmental classes for middle school, because my Earth Science grade was really low and this was the only thing I could do to bring it up," I explained. "They taught us about plants and soil, so that's why they had all of the rows of different types of plants and herbs. My mom used to tell me it looked a lot like the greenhouses from Harry Potter, and the one you're talking about sounds a lot like it…"

"But why would Syrah choose this new location instead of sticking to her original plan?" Claire asked. "Is there any reason for you to return there, Bella?"

"I don't think so," I said doubtfully. "I hated that class and vowed to study harder for Earth Science, so I wouldn't have to go there again the following year. Besides, many greenhouses look like that. I'm not even a hundred percent sure it's the one I went to."

Quil suddenly sat up in his chair. "Bella, where was the greenhouse located?" His abrupt question caught me off guard, and I thought for a moment.

"Umm, I think it was at the top of the building down the street from my mother's house…" And then it hit me. "Oh. Oh! Oh my God!" I jumped up from the floor. "Syrah's coming here, to Phoenix! To the greenhouse!" I turned to Seth. "Can I borrow your phone? I need to call my mom now."

He nodded sympathetically, handing me his Sidekick with no trouble. "I don't see why not. Be careful, though. We're expecting a call from Sam any moment now."

I took his Sidekick into the next room, dialing the familiar house phone number. My mom had promised at least ten times before I left for Forks that she would check the machine via the hotel phone daily, in case I changed my mind or it didn't work out. Now, I hoped she kept her promise. The phone rang once, twice, and then I heard my mother's quiet voice announce to leave a message.

"Mom, it's Bella," I began as the machine beeped. "Just calling to check up on you. I need to tell you something really important, so please call me back. Don't go anywhere, despite what Char…I mean Dad said. Anyways call me back at…" I read off the number Claire had handed me that had Seth's phone number written on it. "No matter what time it is, I need you to call me back here. Don't call Dad until I speak to you first, or else my message won't make any sense. I love you." I clicked the Sidekick off, returning quietly to the living room.

Claire was still in her seat on Quil's lap, and he had begun to absentmindedly play with her curly brown hair. Seth was redrawing Quil's drawing, adding more things to the blank spots of the page. I wordlessly handed his Sidekick back, and he set it on the table. We all sat in silence, waiting for Sam's call back. Without warning, the Sidekick unexpectedly vibrated wildly. Seth picked it up, pressing it to his ear with a silent greeting.

"Yes. You saw it too? Strange, I wouldn't imagine the clouds warning us in two different places. Yes. Yes. Okay, I'll send a picture of our sketch to you later. Yes. Uh huh. All right then." He turned to me. "Bella, someone wants to talk to you..."

I reached for the phone, eager to hear his voice again. "Hello?"

"Hey Bella. How's it going?" Jacob sounded tired, his voice slightly cracking at his attempt at a casual conversation. "Have the two wolves drove you insane yet?"

"I'm managing," I said with a small smile. "How is everything going over there?"

He sighed. "We lost the huntress, like you might already know. We tracked her back to Forks, but then she just disappeared. We think she might have left town already, probably hitched a ride to the airport."

"Okay…How's Charlie?"

"He's fine. Cain stopped by your house when he wasn't home, but he didn't do anything, just looked at the pictures on your wall. And don't worry, Bella; Charlie has Leah, Paul and Embry looking out for him. Besides, Sam believes that Cain's only looking for more information, and so far, he hasn't found anything." The confident sound to his voice caused my heart to yearn for him again.

"I miss you," I whimpered and I heard his soft laugh.

"Me too," he replied gently. "Now I know how Sam feels when he's away from Emily…It's like I'm missing half of myself because she's not here. You've taken my heart, and pretty soon, I'm going to come and take yours."

"You've already taken mine," I teased and we both laughed together.

"Did I mention how much I love you?" he asked.

"Not yet, no."

"Well, I love you so much that I'm putting you through all of this, so that I can hold you in my arms again." A muffled sound came from the background of Jacob's side of the phone and he let out another sigh. "I've got to go. Sam wants us to start scouting out, and it's hard to do when I'm…human. I love you, Bella, more than I can just say. I'll call you again soon."

"I'll sit by the phone until then." He chuckled, and then all sounds went dead. I sat there numbly, listening to the silence be replaced by the dial tone. Seth lightly pried my fingers loose of his Sidekick, shutting it off and setting it back down on the table.

We spent the rest of the night in the living room, each of us lost in our own train of thought. Claire and Quil talked quietly, his mouth going her ear so often that it looked like it could've been attached to it. Seth was drawing and redrawing many different sketches of the greenhouse, each one looking slightly different from the others. He added items, erased them from other pictures, and then redrew the house completely. I sat in front of the television, watching for any news about Florida, anything that might send my mother and Phil home early.

Eventually, Claire fell asleep against Quil's chest, and he carried her off to bed. I don't remember drifting off as well, but I do remember waking briefly as Seth easily picked me up and carried me to bed. He placed me under the covers, and then I fell asleep again.

When I woke up again, it was six in the morning and to the sound of thunder. I threw myself upwards in the hotel bed, and looked over at Claire's vacant side of the room. I got to my feet and raced into the living room, not surprised to see Seth talking rapidly on his Sidekick and Quil taking notes off the clouds. I crept to his side, peering over his shoulder and reading another description of another room.

"What's going on?" I asked Claire, who was perched on the arm of the chair next to Quil.

"The undecided area has been chosen," she said in a whisper. Quil tore the page he had been writing on out from the pad, and handed it to Seth, who began reading it off to his Sidekick. I listened to him carefully.

"A rectangular room with a large window on the north wall, four paintings in a square shape on the west wall. The east wall has an electric fireplace with a bonsai tree next to it, and there's a clear coffee table a few feet away from it. The table's covered with tabloids and Pottery Barn catalogs, and there's a brown carpet under it. There's also a white couch in the shape of an **L** behind it and, at the end of one side of the couch, there's a wooden oval table with a starfish and four books. Two of them are on astronomy, one is on crocheting, and the last is…"

"The Art of War, by Sun Tzu," I murmured softly. Both of the wolves snapped their heads up in surprise, and Claire's mouth dropped open.

"How did you know?" she asked weakly.

"That's…What Seth's describing is my mother's house. She never did get around to finishing that book…"

I don't remember fainting after I said that, but I woke up on the couch with Claire fanning me, and Quil asking if I felt all right. Seth was no longer speaking to Sam; he instead was staring blankly at the wall with his hand in his hair.

"He's coming to get you," Claire said softly in my ear, as if it was supposed to make me feel better. "Sam, Jared, and Jacob are going to take you to Canada for a little while, probably to live with the Kitcisakiiks. You'll like Canada; it's very pleasant."

I sat up immediately. "Jacob's going to come here? But what about my mom? Who's going to stay and watch for her? We can't save everyone in my family, Claire! There are not enough of you! One way or another, Syrah is going to find a dent in our brilliant protection and then..."

"Bella," Quil said sternly, "calm down. We'll catch her; trust me."

"It's not like I don't trust you," I snapped, pushing them away and stalking towards my room. "I've always trusted you. I just think that eventually, I'm going to need some cousin from Finland who needs protection, and there's not going to be enough werewolves in this world who's willing to protect her sorry ass!" And with that, I slammed the door of my room, locking it behind me.

I stayed in my room for about two hours, curled up in a ball on the uncomfortable hotel mattress. There were a few tentative knocks at first, but they were replaced by the sounds of the room service being delivered and the sickening gobbling noises of the wolves. I didn't think much of eating, or sleeping, or even getting up to use the bathroom. The only thought in my mind was of everyone that was going to get hurt because of me. The entire Quileute tribe, everyone I loved, everyone that I had in my heart but couldn't remember at this time…Maybe even a stranger would get killed because he was in Syrah's path of destruction.

Well, if I could find a silver lining in this cloud of doom, the only one that stood out was that I would be in Jacob's arms again. I hoped he wouldn't let me go as we went through the airport to Canada. How they were going to pull off smuggling me pass the border without my passport was beyond me, but I sure hope we wouldn't have to involve boarder patrol…

I eventually returned to the living room of the suite, slightly guilty of my sudden outburst from before. Claire was reading on the couch –that thick book of hers again– and she looked up when I sat on the opposite end of the sofa. I smiled apologetically, and she responded with a simper of her own, one that clearly said I was forgiven. Quil was dozing off in the armchair, and Seth was talking rapidly into his Sidekick, biting his lip as he talked. He turned to me.

"They're getting on the plane right now," he informed me. "They'll be here in a couple of hours…Oh yeah, and Jacob says I love you and all that mushy stuff…" A loud growl sounded from the phone as he said this, one that sounded exactly like Jacob, and Claire and I chuckled together. Unexpectedly, Seth's phone vibrated in his hand and he looked at the screen.

"Hey, Jake, text me back when you're in the sky; I've got another call. Uh huh. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, bye." He hit a button on his Sidekick's keyboard and pressed it back to his ear. "Hello? Um no, she's right here. Can you hold for a second?" He turned to me. "Hey, Bella, it's your mom I think…"

I took the phone. "Hello? Mom, are you there?"

There was a distant click, as if my mother was doing something else to occupy herself. And then she spoke, her voice full of panic and worry. "Bella? Bella? Dear God, where the hell are you?"

"Okay, Mom, calm down. I'll explain everything to you later, I promise, but I need to ask you a question first." I paused for a breath, and immediately noticed that my usually talkative mother was silent. She normally would've interrupted me with a million questions. "Mom? Something wrong?"

"Well, considering I have her tied down and whimpering in pain, yes, I think something's wrong…" The familiar dry yet amused voice at the other end of the line caused me to jump, and I automatically flinched. "Oh goodie, I finally have the brat's attention," she said, more to herself than to me. "You think you're so bright, running off with your dog of a boyfriend and his friends, but you completely underestimated the power of speech between your father and mother. She came home a few hours ago, and found me cleaning my whip. Sorry, but Aranrhod and I tore her up pretty bad…" A loud rippling noise cracked from the background, and the sound of someone in pain shrieked from the other end.

"Don't…!" I gasped. The mental image of my mother, body torn by her whip caused shivers down my spine.

She tutted. "No, no, no, Bella. Don't say another word, or I'm going to bring it down more. Now, I want you to cover up your error by saying, 'Don't come back home yet, Mom; please!'. Go on."

"Don't come back yet, Mom," I said, my voice thick with emotion.

"Not exactly what I wanted, but it'll do." She sounded almost delighted at her little game. "Knowing humans, your face is probably saying a hundred different things. Now, walk to the other room saying, 'Mom, let me explain…'."

"Mom, please let me explain…" I murmured, walking swiftly out of the room with Claire and Seth's eyes following me. I shut the door behind me, and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Good, good. From now on, every question I ask you, I want you respond with a yes or no. Respond if you understand."

"Yes."

"Can those mongrels still hear you?"

"Yes."

"Damn, oh well then. Can you get away from them?"

"No."

"Well, that's a shame then." I heard her snap her whip, fully ready to use it again. "Tell me this, Bella, could you possibly escape them if you knew Aranrhod and my little friend here was about to rip your precious mother to shreds?"

I dug my teeth into my tongue. There had to be a way…The airport was awfully confusing and there had to be more than one exit… "Yes," I said softly, my new tongue wound slurring my words slightly.

"Much better," she cooed, as if encouraging the Little Engine Who Could. "I honestly don't want to hurt your mother, Bella, but you hanging out with that…dog leaves me with no choice. In fact, she's a rather nice lady. She tried to bribe me with money and her jewelry, and even tried to dial nine-one-one when she thought I wasn't looking…It's a shame though. She was quite pretty, to be honest. You understand why I'm doing this, right?"

"No," I said bitterly.

"Well, that's a real shame then. I want you to come to your home, and find a phone number written on your refrigerator message board. Call this number before the sun sets, or your mommy will suffer a minor injury to the head. I'll tell you where to walk to from there. And, if I sense any others with you…well, we both know what will happen. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Now, as soon as I hang up, I want you to walk to your perverted mongrel's girlfriend, and tell her that you talked your mother out of not coming. Now, repeat after me, 'Mom, I love you. I'll see you soon, okay? Bye.' Say it."

"Mom," I croaked, wondering if she could hear me, "I love you so much. I'll see you really soon. Bye, Mom…"

"Good bye, Bella. I hope to see you soon." And with that, the line went dead. My eyes were swimming with tears, and I choked back a sob. Thoughts raced through my brain at double-speed.

I knew for a fact that I was going to have to go to the greenhouse at the top of the building, face off with Syrah, and then die without ever knowing if my mother or anyone else I loved was safe. There was no other choice, no safety net to hold me. I was risking it all, and now I could only hope that all the pieces fell into place. Hopefully, Syrah would be fine with killing me and possibly my mother, and leave the rest of the people in my life in peace.

But then, there was the permanent damage I would inflict on Jacob. He would probably go after Syrah, even though I wasn't his imprinted one, and would hunt her down until he found her. I could never hold him, kiss him, even just touch his blazing hot skin because there was no time. He was going to feel the anguish as if he was loosing me to his imprinted one, not to death.

I returned to the front room, managing a calm look on my shaken face. Claire looked up in alarm, and Seth carefully took his Sidekick from me.

"Just my mom," I said casually. "I convinced her to stay in Florida, so we're fine."

"That's good," Quil said absently, waking up from his nap.

"Yeah, I guess." I stared off into space, my eyes falling on a spare envelope next to the couch. "Hey, Claire, you're staying with the guys right?"

"Yes," she answered. "Why, what's up?"

"Can you give my mom a letter if she does come up? I want to…explain some stuff to her."

"Sure thing, Bella." She handed me a spare piece of stationary and the envelope, and I went back to my room, sitting at a small desk hidden in the corner of the room. With a deep inhale, I wrote carefully. Tears ran down my face, making my letter look messier than usual. I knew he would eventually find out about it, and would most likely open it –that was so common for him I guess. I just hoped he understood what I meant with every word written…

**Jacob, my Jacob,**

**She has my mom, and I don't know what else do to. I don't want anyone else that I love, especially you, to get hurt because of the stupidity of my own actions. Don't be angry with Claire, Quil, or Seth. In fact, thank all of them from the bottom of my heart. I love them as if there were my own siblings, my family. **

**Please, Jacob, don't come after her. This is what she wants; to enrage you so that she has a better reason to kill you. She can just claim it was all self-defense, and what do you have then? Nothing. So please, my Jacob, don't try and find her. Just…go back to Forks, I guess. And tell Charlie that I'm sorry.**

**Jacob, my Jacob, I want nothing more than you by my side. I love you with all my heart. You said I have your heart, and I still do. At least now I have something that will give me strength in this time of death.**

**Forgive me,**

**Bella**

I returned to the living room, feeling quite useless and a bit dead inside. Quil was gone, most likely in the lobby to check us out. Seth was on the couch, catching some well-deserved sleep. He worked overtime for me, and I was repaying him by running away? I bit my tongue, wincing when I accidentally bit my wound from before. Claire was sitting cross-legged by the balcony screen door, her face blank as she traced a shape repeatedly on the fogged glass. I sat across from her, and the corners of her mouth twitched, but she didn't look at me.

"It's going to be all right," she said, speaking to no one in particular. When I didn't respond and instead stared lifelessly at her, she got up from her spot on the floor and disappeared into the suite's bedroom. Most likely going to go pack up her items. I wished I had someway to tell her what was going on, but I knew Syrah was watching me from some distance. I sighed. The suite's door opened, and Quil entered.

"Come on; we have to be out of here in ten minutes," he announced, whacking his hand against the arm of the sofa loudly, waking Seth up and causing him to jump.

We gathered all of our bags and walked briskly to the elevator. No one spoke as we got on, and I hung to the back of the small room. Claire occupied Quil's attention, and Seth was texting on his Sidekick, so I carefully slipped my bulging wallet of money –my secret stash from Forks, hidden in a spare wallet because no one suspected that people put their secret stashes of money in their wallets– into my jacket pocket. I made sure to stuff my hands in my pockets as we exited, so the large square shape in my coat looked like my hands.

Seth hauled down a taxi, and we all squeezed into the tiny yellow cab. Quil chatted away with the driver in the front seat, while Seth continued his nap at his window seat. Claire was soon dozing off, and I felt my eyelids get heavy as well, as if they wanted to join the two snorers on ether side of me. I must've knocked out quickly for the next thing I knew, Claire was nudging me awake. I hopped out of the taxi, with my bag in hand and my plan on my mind.

We found a small café near the terminal for Jacob's plane, and sat down to eat lunch. Seth went to get us some food, and even from afar, I marveled on how similar he looked like Jacob. Jacob…A part of me wanted to stay for just a little longer, to see Jacob's face and give him a hug before bolting, but I knew I didn't have much time. The large airport clock chimed noon, and I knew there wasn't another moment left to dawdle.

I reached into my bag and took out the envelope with my mother's name on it, handing it to Claire across the table. "For my mom," I said blandly and she nodded, taking it and tucking it into her large book.

"I need to go to the bathroom," I announced suddenly, rising from the table and pushing my chair in nosily. Quil nodded, more absorbed in rummaging in his bag than in me, and I knew I could escape from them easily now. But Claire had other ideas.

"I'll come with you," she said, getting to her feet as well. "I need to freshen up before we meet with the other wolves anyways."

Panic filled me, but I forced myself to smile and follow her to the airport bathroom. Now what was I going to do? I had Claire right there, and she could probably catch me before I even stepped one foot outside the door! I slipped into a stall while Claire stood in front of the bathroom mirror, combing through her hair with a little brush from her bag. She hadn't gotten a chance to clean herself up, mostly because of the checking out in a rush mess, and I knew she wasn't just going to leave me alone in here for a long time. Finally, I had an idea. I unlocked the stall and came out, scrubbing my hands in the sink next to Claire's.

"Hey um, Claire?"

"Hmm hmmm?"

"Do you have um a tmafipnon?" I coughed the last word, my face flushing red with genuine embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, a what?"

I repeated the word again in another cough, and Claire thought for a moment before coming to realization. To my surprise, she didn't blush or even look down with discomfort. Instead, she rummaged in her little bag for a moment before shaking her head.

"Nope, sorry, Bella." She glanced around the bathroom and spotted the machine with every woman's needs. "Do you have a quarter on you? You can get one over there…"

I ran my hands through my pockets, letting my hands brush over my overstuffed stash. "Actually, I left my wallet at the table, so I don't have anything on me right now…"

"Damn," Claire mumbled, finding her own bag empty of quarters. "I'll go ask Quil for one; I'll be right back." She grabbed her bag off the sink, and went out of the bathroom, the door swinging shut behind her.

An elderly woman who had been drying her hands with the same towel for ten minutes looked up at me through her thick glasses. "If you want, I can give you one," she said in a reedy voice.

"It's fine; thank you," I said quickly as I exited the bathroom via the other exit. That's what I loved about airports; they had two exits in each bathroom, one for entering and one for exiting. Hopefully, Claire wouldn't realize this until later.

And hopefully, I would reach my mother before it was all too late.

Good-bye Jacob, and the life I would never have.

* * *

Dun dun dun! :O

Hehe, a little Author-Talking-To-Readers-Question... Who, do you think, is more evil and sinister: James or Syrah? Review me with your answer!

Or you can just review like you would normally :)

Reviews are appreciated, criticism is somewhat thought about, but downright flames are put out with fire extiquishers and thrown out without any thinking done!

Thanks for reading! :P

~Geneth


	20. HideandSeek & Out of Body Experience

You guys must really love this story...

I got another PM a few days ago telling me that this story was nominated (again! :O) for the Best JacobxBella Fanfic by the Silent Tear Awards. Voting is going on as we speak, so you can vote for me if you want at silent-tear-awards dot yolasite dot com/vote dot php.  
If I can be completely honest, though, I think I have no chance of winning. I'm up against two stories with 300+ reviews and Breathe Again by Ysar, a fabulous story that clearly outshines this small little one. Whatever...moving on...

OMG, its the fight scene! I have to admit, this is a bit bloodier than the original Twilight with much more PAIN and AGONY and BELLA GETTING MORE SEVERELY HURT! But, however, Jacob to the rescue! :D

We're getting closer to the end :( Oh well, now all of you Team Edward fans can see him in New Moon and all of you Team Jacob fans will be :( .

~Geneth

PS Think you're worthy enough to be my beta-reader for New Moon: Reversed Roles? Bring it on with an interesting challenge at the bottom...

* * *

My heart was pounding as I raced through the airport, squeezing past a few tourists to slide into the leaving shuttle. The driver stared at me in surprise, as did the other passengers, but I ignored them and choose a seat at the back of the small bus, pulling on my hood and staring blankly out the window. A young couple was the nearest passengers from me, and all of their looks of affection and secret kisses caused me to feel the urge to cry. But I couldn't cry; not yet of course. There was still so much I had to do.

I got off the shuttle and immediately caught a leaving taxi. When I told him my mother's address, he fussed and complained until I shut him up with a few Andrew Jacksons. Staring out the window reminded me too much of all of the people I left behind at the airport, so I squeezed my eyes shut and pictured what it would be like if Syrah had never called, if my mother was safe and I was just going with Jacob because we needed a change of plans.

I pictured him exiting the terminal, his bags tossed carelessly over one shoulder while his tired face scanned the crowd for me. I could just see him spy me, his glorious brown eyes meeting mine, and the immediate smirk that would come to his face as he began to walk towards me. The way he would hug me close to his massive chest, the way the other wolves would step back to give us our own personal space. I imagined that he would keep his hands around my waist as we headed to the Canada terminal, the way he would slip his arms around me on the plane, like Quil and Claire had done when we had flown here.

And his face…I could so clearly see his face. His smooth russet sun gleaming in the sun as we stepped out into the Canadian sunshine, his glossy hair rustling in the breeze, and most of all, and the way his amber eyes would never leave mine as we held each other in the picture of perfect peacefulness… I was missing all of this, and I could now see the sadness mixed with anger on his face as he searched the airport desperately, Claire at his side with her eyes full of apologies.

"Hey kid, we're here." The cabby's rude awakening put a halt to my imagery, and I pulled myself together, thanking him and climbing out of the smelly cab as quickly as I could.

The second he pulled away, I raced up to my mother's small house, sticking my hand in the empty flowerpot next to the door for the hidden house key. I unlocked the door and stepped inside, holding my breath and preparing myself for the scent of bloodied flesh. To my surprise, the house smelled quite normal, the scent of my mother's favorite lavender and vanilla scented Febreeze flowing naturally through the air. I looked around the empty living room, surprised that the room seemed slightly dusty and there wasn't a drop of blood on the floor. I went to my mother's kitchen and found a phone number, scribbled in a delicate calligraphy, on the message board attached to the fridge. I went for the living room's cordless phone, but found it gone from its charger.

I now understood what Syrah had done. There wasn't any blood in the house, or strange scent, because she most likely took the phone beforehand. All that was left to do was ambush my mom and take her somewhere else to do all of the pain and suffering. That made sense, I guess.

I dialed quickly from the kitchen phone, messing up a few times and having to redial in order to finally get the numbers right. I waited patiently, the phone ringing slowly. After four rings, an automated voice told me to leave a message, and I was about to hang up when the voice stopped talking and the sound of another person breathing caused me to catch my breath.

"Bella!" she said with easy familiarity, her normally dry tone touched with amusement. "Good to hear from you again. I hope you didn't get into any…trouble on the way here."

"None," I said bluntly. "How's my mother?"

"She's fine. A little shaken, but fine. Now, do you know that little greenhouse at the corner of your street? You know, the one at the top of that apartment complex? I want you to meet me there as soon as you can. Actually, make it ten minutes or mommy dearest will be shaken as well as beaten. Good-bye now, Bella. I hope to see you soon…alone." Before I could even respond, she hung up.

I sat, frozen in my mother's kitchen chair for a several minutes. The dial tone continued to drone on and on, and I sat listening to it like I had done at the hotel, until an automated voice began to speak. I reluctantly hung up then, peeking at the clock through half-closed eyes. I only had eight minutes left. I got to my feet and ran out the door, locking it behind me and tossing the key into the flowerpot with a clunk.

The overpowering heat beat down on me as I hustled through the near empty streets, and I suddenly wished I had drank some water before I had left. Throat parched, I stopped and looked up at the sky for a moment, wishing the clouds would appear and cover the hot sun. On second thought, maybe it was good for the sun to beat down on me. This was probably the last time I would ever see it again…

I exhaled a deep breath and continued down the street, watching the world continue around me. An elderly couple was strolling down the other side of the street, both in tank tops and shorts that grandparents should never wear. A girl around my age was walking a herd of dogs, whistling as she did so. She passed by me and I forced a smile to her and her little troupe. The dogs barked excitedly at me, but I noticed that one large dog at the back of the group was not barking or even smiling that little doggie grin that most canines have.

The dog was rather big to be considered in the "dog" department, and was a deep silver color. Tints of black ran through the dog's fur, and the dog's black eyes met mine for a second. The smile vanished from my face as I realized who the dog was.

As soon as my smile disappeared, Aranrhod pulled her leash hard and it slipped out of the girl's hand. I backed away, full of fear that the wolf was going to bite me, but Aranrhod ran around the corner, towards the building with the greenhouse. The girl started after her, eyes full of panic, but I stopped her.

"I'll get her for you," my voice said, saying something that I knew wasn't going to happen.

"Thanks so much," she gushed. "I'll be at the park all day, so drop her off if you see her, okay?" I nodded and hurried towards the building, now finding another burden on my shoulders as I pushed open the heavy complex door.

The lobby was cool and crisp, the central air conditioning cooling off the people of the building with a single breeze. I must've looked lost, for I saw an off-duty doorman start towards me. I couldn't let him follow me, or know where I was going. There was going to be more lives at stake if he knew, or anyone in this lobby knew. I increased my speed across the lobby, slipping into an elevator just as the doors closed. I startled the tubby businessman inside, but I smiled innocently and clicked the button labeled "roof". He stared at me curiously.

"I'm one of the gardeners," I explained lamely.

"Ah," he said, politely disinterested.

The man got off at the fifth floor, and I hurried to push the button to close the doors behind him. The elevator hummed, and then rang out when it came to the roof. I dug my nails into the tender skin of my palms, finding wounds unhealed from whenever I had previously fallen. And with another ding, the elevator doors opened.

I stepped out into the sunny roof, sweat falling off my forehead before I had even taken a step. Pigeons that had been doing their business along the roof siding took flight when they saw me, and I saw the greenhouse in the distance. Before I could decide to run or walk towards the place of my doom, I heard my mother's voice:

"Bella? Bella? Dear God, where the hell are you?"

"Mom? Mom!" Her panicked voice made the decision for me, and I ran into the greenhouse without a second thought. The interior of the greenhouse was just as the storm had said. All of the tables covered with plants were pushed against the west wall, the east revealing just how high ten stories was. I looked straight ahead, spying a cluster of ivy plants that looked almost like a person. My mother's voice rang out from it.

"Bella! Bella! God, why did I get myself dragged into this?"

Feet pounding on the dirt floor, I raced to the ivy, dragging the plants away with my hands. The deeper I went, the louder her voice was. One more plant to remove so I could see her face…

"I found you! You stupid girl! Why…I'm not even going to ask…"

I gasped in surprise, nearly falling on my butt. Underneath all of the plants was a television screen, playing a video taken by my mother when she had taken me to the local Halloween carnival. We had gone inside the haunted house, and my claustrophobic mother immediately lost me in the house of ghosts and skeletons. The camera shook a little as she embraced me, dressed in a hand-me-down cowgirl costume, and lead me towards the glowing exit sign. "We are never going on that again," she said firmly, and then the screen went blank.

The greenhouse's door suddenly slammed shut, and I whirled around. Aranrhod was standing in front of it, that same hidden evil in her eyes glowing with a passion. The wolf turned to me, planting the rest of her body firmly in front of the door. It was obvious that there was no escape from that direction.

"Bella!" The dry voice called to me from one side. I turned to my right and saw Syrah, still as statuesque as the day we met, but without a single drop of sweat on her body. Her familiar black dress swished on the floor as she revealed herself from her hiding place behind a group of lilies, and she moved her hand from her side slightly to reveal her incredibly long and incredibly dangerous whip.

"So lovely for you to arrive," she crooned, almost dancing to the middle of the empty room. "And you're precisely…twenty seconds before schedule. How delightful." She laughed, a bitter sound that seemed oddly displaced in her voice. She was trying to seem natural, friendly, when all she wanted to do was kill me now.

"You…You tricked me," I whispered, my voice shaking.

"Ah, yes. Forgive me about that," she said absently, fidgeting with the leather-stripped end of her whip. "This was the only way to get your attention, am I right? If I had just asked you to come here, to just randomly meet me at the greenhouse to…chat, you would've said no…right?" When I didn't respond, she smirked and snapped her whip against the floor. The sound made me jump, and I grabbed a hanging plant to avoid falling. "You see, Bella," –she spat my name, almost as if it was a curse– "I only needed a bit of…hunter's luck to find what I needed to lure you hear.

"For example, all I had to do was ask my delightful hubby to lure your school receptionist into handing over your files. She was no problem; he casually unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and she practically tossed the files at him. Next, I went to your mother's humble adobe and listened to that wonderful message you left her. Of course, there was no way to get your mommy home without seeming suspicious, so I simply rifled through your house for a little home movies.

"And, of course, this all would not have worked if you were so far away, like in Africa, so I got Cain to check your coordinates for me. If your mongrel friends were a bit more careful, maybe the one with the scarred girlfriend would've noticed my love eavesdropping on their conversations."

She laughed, reaching into the side of her belt to reveal a long velvet ribbon attached to a locket. "A gift from my husband, my true love if you will," she said, her voice suddenly hard, "and I know he's my true love because he imprinted on me. Now if your boyfriend would imprint on you, you wouldn't be standing here before me."

"Shut up," I said through gritted teeth, the words slipping out before I had a chance to stop them.

Her head snapped towards me, her eyes narrowing. So quickly I nearly missed it, she flicked her wrist towards me, sending the long whip against my cheek without blinking. The pain was numbing at first, and I slowly lifted my hand to feel the gushing blood pouring from it. And then the pain began to burn, and I felt the air cut into it like a knife into a piece of bread.

"The next time you have something awful to say to me, the last person to see you alive, don't say it unless you're told," she chided, as if I was the young child she was scolding. She took a step towards me, and I automatically took a step back. She kept walking towards me, and I kept backing away until I realized –too late of course– that she had trapped me against the east wall.

"I do hope your dog of a boyfriend watches the video of this on the security camera," she said conversationally. She waved her hand over to the camera behind her, the hidden one propped against the corner of the small greenhouse. "It's a private one," she explained, "and I popped a fresh tape into it before you arrived. Have you told him that he must chastise my actions?" Her voice was almost hopeful, and my prediction in my letter to Jacob was correct.

"No, I asked him not to." My trembling voice seemed to please her, and she snapped her whip against the floor once more. I flinched, pressing my back against the cool glass of the greenhouse.

"Too bad he's not going to listen to you," she purred. "I've watched the skies from this area in Arizona, and the skies predict that he will hunt me down for ten years before he imprints on a three month old baby he meets in Nebraska." I bit the inside of my cheek, willing myself not to say anything back to her.

Suddenly, it occurred to me something the wolves should've realized before. Syrah was had long dark brown hair, and deep brown eyes that pierced your soul if you looked into them. Syrah was the girl who was supposed to ruin the Quileutes for good. And she had done that, by using me as a pawn in her ways with the wolves.

"Had a flashback, dear?" Her voice was positively mocking, and she flicked her wrist out again. The whip slashed across my left side, and this time I let lose a loud, pained scream. "It's a real shame that this glass in sound-proof." Another whip across my body and now I couldn't move the entire left side of my body. The scream erupting in my voice were so loud, even I would've covered my ears if I had heard them.

"All you had to do was not go out with that damn werewolf, darling," she said, sending the next whip across my face. The gushing cut on my cheek was now flowing out swiftly, and the other new cuts joined it as it ran down my face and onto my shirt, making it appear as if I was crying blood. "Tell him to find me, tell him to catch me and try and kill me," she prompted, laughing another bitter sound.

"No, Jacob, no!" I shrieked, my words slurred greatly by the numbness on one side of my body.

Syrah threw her arm back, and then swung it towards me. The whip met my body and pushed me through the glass wall of the greenhouse. I tried to scream, but the pain was greatly distracting me. I landed on the floor of the ally near to the apartment complex with a thud, right on my paralyzed side, and I opened my mouth halfway to scream, but nothing came out.

She landed easily in a crouch a few feet away from me, her whip between her teeth. "You don't understand Bella," she chortled crisply, pulling the whip from her mouth. "There's no one here. Look around if you can; we're in a part of the ally that's abandoned!" I looked with my eyes and confirmed what she saw. A tall, wired gate stood between me and the windows of the complexes. I was surrounded by trash, and garbage couldn't save me now. "He can't see you now," she said, bring her arm back yet again, "but he can hear you."

You know how they say that right before you die, your entire life passes before your very eyes? Well, that's a bunch of crap. Everything was slowed down for me, and I watched as Syrah's arm slowly began to come to meet my flesh once more. But, as the world was slowing, I saw from the top of the roof a large figure holding what appeared to be Aranrhod into the air, and then throwing the wolf to the ground. The body of Aranrhod, the majestic wolf servant, landed at Syrah's side with a thump. The wolf's eyes were lifeless, having being thrown ten stories down. Syrah was distracted, turning to the complex with her face surprised. The figure jumped off the roof, soaring through the air and landing soundlessly in a crouch in front of us. He stood up in full height, and I stifled a cheer.

Jacob's eyes were furious, the amber in his eyes molten fire. They didn't leave Syrah's face, in case she was planning to outsmart him, but I could faintly see him overlook the huntress and see my beaten body against a trash heap. A growl rumbled in his throat, a livid one that I had never heard him sound before, and his body was vibrating rapidly. Syrah turned to him, me completely forgotten, and she put her spare hand to her hip.

"Ah, the dog has arrived," she snickered. "It's a real shame that you came too late to save your foolish beloved. Did you know that she would rather spare you and your mongrel friends instead of her mother? Such a waste of beauty and brains…don't you think?"

"You son of a…" Jacob was close to cursing, but his shaking body seemed to distract him completely. "I will kill you, right here, right now."

"Oh please, like one lonesome werewolf is going to destroy a huntress?" She rolled her hazel eyes. "Get over yourself, sweetie. You're not going to kill me…I am going to rip you to shreds, scatter the pieces, and then send you to hell to join your girlfriend."

"That's what you think," Jacob replied, chuckling a dark laugh of his own. Several figures appeared on the roof as he said this, peering out from the broken greenhouse wall and then jumping out of it. Seconds later, the rest of the Quileutes were standing behind Jacob, all in deep poses on the ground. Quil and Jared were behind Jacob's left side, and Sam and Embry were on Jacob's right. I noticed, through my pain, that Leah and Paul were nowhere in sight, and strangely Seth was missing from the picture of my saviors.

"If I can take one down with one hit from my whip," Syrah snorted, "then I can take down five half-brained doggies. Ooh, but wait! I almost forgot!" She turned to me. "Have a nice trip, Bella," she said before bringing down her heeled foot into my chest.

I screamed in pain, my lost voice now found in a fit of pain. She removed the shoe she had planted into me from her foot, tossing the other one to fight barefoot. The world around me began to blur, and I turned my head up to the sky, the beautiful blue sky. I heard howls of the wolves from the side, and the sound of fighting, but nothing mattered anymore. And, like most people dying, I began to drift out of my body.

Have you ever had one of those out-of-body experiences? Studies that are probably not true show that it happens more often to people who are dead –and these people see what happens to their bodies until they are laid to rest– or people who are near dead and are watching what's happening as they're gone from their bodies. I'm not sure if what I experienced was because I was dead, or near dead, but I knew I was having one.

I was suddenly floating in the skies, several feet above my body. I watched the battle near me, and saw that Jacob was the only one not fighting. He was on his knees next to me, and two crystals were slowly running down his smooth cheeks. It took me a moment to realize that my Jacob was crying, and not fighting. My heart swelled. He had respected my last wishes and chosen not to fight for me, but instead got the other Quileutes to avenge me.

The wolves –in human form, which I had to admit was a smart choice, for they could probably heal faster as humans– had trapped Syrah in a corner, and Sam was reaching into his pocket and pulling out something I never thought a wolf could posses. It was a shiny silencer; the type most people think is fictional until it's pointed at you. Syrah was fighting them, flinging her whip towards them at rapid speed. But, for some reason, the wolves seemed unaffected by the whip and continued towards her. In fact, I thought I saw a bit of orange tint to their skin that glimmered and shined, as if it was protecting them. I wondered how this was possible for a moment, but decided it was probably a hallucination of my mind.

"You damn dogs," the huntress spat. "You're going to burn in hell, you know that? You are a disgrace to all shifters around the world and…"

"Oh shut up," Sam snapped, pressing the gun to her chest and pulling the trigger. My floating form flinched, but the gun didn't rang out like most guns should. Instead, there was a small muffled noise, and then Syrah was down on her butt, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Again, without even blinking, Sam took the gun at her brain and shot again. The huntress's body hopped at the action, but she didn't awake. As if he was taking extra precautions, Quil began to dig his hand into her chest, right where her heart would be.

I turned my form away from the bloodiness of the enemy, and instead turned to the bloodiness of my own body. Jacob had pulled Syrah's heeled sandal out of my chest, and now my front shirt was drenched in blood. Jacob pulled his t-shirt off over his head and pressed in to my face, cleaning the wounds with his shirt and tears.

Around the corner, my form suddenly saw Seth and the wolf-girls sprinting towards us, having not jumped off the roof and instead taken the long way around. Claire had her big healing remedies book tucked under one arm, Emily had a large bag of what appeared to be medical supplies in hers, and Kim had two clear containers of different herbs and plants in her hands.

"Oh God, are we too late?" Emily cried as they bent down next to Jacob's slumped self.

Seth took my wrist and felt for my pulse, and shook his head. "Her heart's still beating. It's very faint, but I think we can make it work."

"I took the shoe out," Jacob said miserably, holding the shoe up for the others to examine. "It missed her heart by inches, centimeters really."

Claire opened her book, skimming through the pages and finding one necessary. "Kim, grind the ajowan, fenugreek, and nigella **(all real herbs, fyi :D) **in the wooden bowl I showed you. Seth, find me a single stem of saffron and rub it on her cheek wound. Emily…"

"There's not enough time for that!" Jacob exclaimed, turning to Claire with panic in his eyes. "She's going to die if we don't do something right now!"

"I know, I know!" Claire said back, her voice struggling to remain calm. She rummaged through the plastic containers, finding a small purple berry and pushing it between my body's lips. "There is one other thing that we can do right now," she mumbled thoughtfully.

Jacob turned to her, his eyes wide. "You're not thinking…?"

She nodded severely. "Jacob, you have to give some of your blood to Bella. It's the only way for her to heal fast and get rid of these wounds…"

"No!" Jacob roared in an unfamiliar angry tone. His voice ripped two octaves, like it had when we were leaving Forks and running from Syrah in my truck. "I'm not risking her life! She suffers from so many wounds, who knows how much blood that will take? What if she becomes a wolf by accident?"

"It's fairly safe," Seth said quietly. "We have a container that you can bleed into, one for measuring, and then we pour it into Bella's wounds…"

"There's no other way, Jacob." A new voice came from behind everyone, and they all turned. Sam was walking over to them, his hands covered in blood. Quil and Jared were burying something in the dirt –most likely the huntress's heart– and Embry was covering Syrah's body with dirt. "She is going to die unless you do something," Sam continued, "and I don't think you want that…do you?"

Jacob bit his lip, indecisive as he looked from my torn body to the other Quileutes and wolf-girls. Determination lit up in his eyes, and his decision was made. Seth wordlessly handed him a large container, one that was marked to show each pint needed. Emily transferred a small scalpel from her medical bag and Jacob, after taking a few deep breathes, slid the middle of his wrist.

The blood bubbled, slowly dripping into the container at first, and Claire took a small green herb and brushed it against Jacob's wound. The blood halted for a moment, and then started flowing out like the wound in my cheek. Jacob stared in amazement, and he looked at Claire with an eyebrow raised. She smile innocently and shrugged, taking the scalpel from Jacob's free hand and handing it to Seth.

Seth smiled at Jacob, and then mimicked his actions, slicing the edge of his smooth wrist without a second thought. Claire rubbed it carefully with the little herb, and the blood came out as easily as Jacob's wound had. My heart swelled as one by one, each wolf there stepped forward and allowed their wrist to be slit and rubbed with the herb. I was surprised that Sam followed his pack, but also somewhat pleased that he saw purpose in me. The container began to reach the two and a half pint line –the half point mark must have meant something, I guess- and Claire picked up a roll of ace bandage. Carefully taking one boy out at a time, she tightly bound a bandage with a bit of herbal leaves tucked in it around each boy's flowing wrist. The blood began to come through at first, but was eventually negated by the other herb.

Jacob was the last to be bandaged, and his face was worn and tired, his body showing that he might faint anytime soon. He picked up the container, and gingerly began to pour the blood into the only big enough wound along my cheek. All of a sudden, I felt my form pull towards my body. With a swift breeze, I found myself flying towards my body and reentering it, my eyes suddenly seeing darkness. I could now feel the new blood entering my body, and the unbelievable heat that came from the wolf's blood.

My once mute mouth began to move, and I found my voice once more, and began to let out loud screams. I heard the wolves and wolf-girls wince and pulle back when they first heard the noise come out from me, but Sam let out a surprising chuckle.

"It's working, Jacob," he said in an almost skeptical voice.

"It's hurting her," Jacob pointed out, still pouring.

I could suddenly feel the blood changing to my blood. It felt as if I was being burned, and someone was sticking my burned body into a freezer in an attempt to cool me down. Now the pain was burning cold, and I screamed louder, finally saying my first words.

"Jacob, I'm burning!" I yelled at him, flinging the words what I hoped was his direction. My hands reached around, looking for his to clench and possibly claw. I heard him hesitate, and then he gently placed my hands in his lap with his spare one.

"It's okay, baby," he whispered softly, moving the pouring from my cheek to a medium sized gash in my arm. I screamed again, and he clutched my hands in his. "It's going to be all right. We're going to make you all better, okay? I love you so much…"

The cold fire was biting at my insides, and I shrieked, this time beginning to thrash. I heard the sound of some blood dripping on my arm and not into my arm, and Jacob sigh.

"Quil, Seth," he said regretfully, "hold down her arms please. Jared, Embry, get her legs."

"No, no, no!" I bawled, like a young child throwing a tantrum, but the other wolves followed his orders. The blazing glacier was now in my head for some reason, and I twisted and turned my neck with my cries. Sam's warm hands gripped my head, holding it in place, but I continued wail for the entire world to hear.

I dug my nails into Jacob's hands, but he didn't seem to mind. "Bella, I love you," he continued to say gently. "We're almost done, baby, and then you'll be all better…Come on now, I love you…" His thumb caressed my hands, like the first time we had clutched hands together, and I felt myself somewhat soothed.

The inferno was dying out now, and I now could successfully feel and move my left side now. The last drops of werewolf blood dripped into the last bits of my cuts, and I could almost feel my skin rapidly moving to close over it. The hands holding my body down were now gone, and I slowly opened my eyes, staring at the sky I thought I would never see again with wonderment.

"Jacob…?" I breathed, and his gorgeous face came into my view.

"Bella," he said with a sigh. He lightly moved a few stray hairs away from my face, and lifted half of my body up into his lap.

I leaned my head into his warm chest, exhausted about what I had just endured, and looked around us. Sam had his hand on Emily's shoulder as she kneeled next to me, wiping away the last bits of dried blood from my face with a wipe. Claire had her head pressed against Quil's leg, and his hands were intertwined with her messy curls. Kim was standing up, and Jared's arms were wrapped firmly around her waist. Embry and Seth, the only ones without girls, were hugging each other and I let out a breathless laugh. The sound of my giggle snapped the Quileutes awake, and they quietly joined my laughter.

I looked down at my body, surprised that past the rest of the dried blood and messy sprays on my blouse and jeans, all my wounds were gone. Even the small scratch that I had at my ankle that never truly healed over the past two years was gone, my skin stretched over it like a protective shield.

"Huh," I mumbled. "That werewolf blood is powerful stuff."

Jacob laughed quietly, his tone touched with relief. "This means you aren't going to have to go to the hospital," he said lightly into my ear.

"Good," I yawned, snuggling my head into Jacob's chest. "I hate hospitals, especially since the last time I stayed there, you yelled at me."

The wolves laughed again, and Emily stood up. "We should probably get back to your house," she said. "I hope you don't mind, Bella, but we've taken temporary residence in your home, as part of our little…story to tell to your parents."

"Story?" I asked, slightly suspicious. "Like…a cover-up?"

"Something like that." Jacob smiled, turning me to my side and slipping his arms under my legs and head. He stood up, cradling me lovingly in his arms, and he kissed my forehead with the lightest of touches. "Sleep now, Bella," he murmured, "you must be tired." And with that, he started walking towards the fence. I looked and noticed that the previously latched gate was open, the mental wires hanging to the floor. Typical of the wolves.

"I'm not going to sleep unless I get a proper kiss," I yawned again.

The familiar smirk came on his face, and he lifted my entire body up to meet his. Tenderly, he pressed his warm lips to mine and held it there for a few seconds before releasing me. "Satisfied?"

"Maybe."

"Good night, Bella," he said, rolling his eyes as he started to walk onto the sunny street.

I snuggled deeper into his chest, absorbing the warmth, and knowing that I was safe and with the boy and family I had grown to love.

* * *

Aww, don't you just love happy chapters like these? :D

Reviews appreciated! Criticism thought over! Flames...are well flames...

Concerning the "contest", my "editors" are going to be away when I write it, so I now need a beta-reader who is willing to work for me when I begin writing New Moon: Reversed Roles (It's definite that I'm doing it!)  
Your challenge? Find me a nice looking dress for Bella to wear at the prom in the Epilogue of Twilight: Reversed Roles. Simple right? Here's the catch: It can't be the same color or same style as the one she wore in the original Twilight. Review or PM me with a link to the dress, and I will declare a winner in the final chapter of this fanfic.

Good luck! And REVIEW!

~Geneth


	21. An Impasse of Sorts

Hey everyone!

OMG, its officially the second-to-last chapter of **Twilight: Reversed Roles** :( I'm so sad... Cry with me, please? *sniff sniff sniff*  
Okay, cut the tears for a second! I want to remind you of two things:

**Numero Uno**- Please don't forget to vote for this story for **Best JacobxBella** story at the Silent Tear Awards  
(site = www [dot] silent-tear-awards [dot] yolasite [dot] com)  
**Numero Dos**- Entries for Project Prom Dress (the Bella's prom dress contest :D) is now over! Vote for your favorite at my profile, where I'll show you pictures to help you decide, but not tell you who made it to the finals. Good old fashioned competition in my search for a beta reader :)

Enjoy!

~Geneth  
**Warning! **The following chapter of **Twilight: Reversed Roles** contains major fluff, due to the fact that the author first followed the book's chapter on it, but was dismayed to find out that it was super-duper short. Thus, fluff was added. Enjoy! (Thanks again to **OutsideJokes** for Jared's catchphrase and thank you to **Davii-Hime** for the idea that could've subbed baton racing in chapter 15-16, but is now included in the fluff...)

* * *

I opened my eyes to a brightly lit room, one that was all too familiar to me. Light from the outside world shined into the room through the window behind me, and reflected off the glass top of the coffee table a few inches away from me. I was stretched out comfortably on the longer part of a white, **L**-shaped couch, with my head in someone's lap. I let out a rather loud yawn, and the lap moved slightly as the owner of the lap chuckled.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Jacob said, stroking the top of my head. "Did you have a nice…eighteen hour nap?"

"What?" I sat up from Jacob's warm lap, looking around my mother's living room in surprise. The clock on the wall next to the front door read out that it was six-thirty in the morning. "I slept for that long?"

"Like you said yesterday," he said, amused, "that werewolf blood is some pretty powerful stuff." He ruffled my hair in a natural gesture, and I leaned my head against his shoulder. We sat silently together for a moment, listening to the noises in the kitchen of the wolf-girls laughing with another familiar sounding voice.

"Emily called your mother yesterday," Jacob said quietly, "and told her our little cover-up story. She arrived a few hours ago…You should've seen the look on her face when I answered the door!" He smiled to himself.

"So wait, what's your masterful story?" I asked. "I need to know if I'm going to be the innocent victim in your play."

He kissed the top of my head. "Innocent victim? No. Damsel in distress? Yes." I opened my mouth to say something sarcastic, but he pushed his finger to my lips. "Now, as I was saying, I came to Phoenix roughly a day or two after you left, thinking about talking some sense into you. You agreed to meet me in your house, but you caught some sort of bug from being in the heat after so long. That's why you've been out for a while; Claire told your mother that long naps help cool you down and deal with the heat." He grinned, triumphant.

"Okay then," I said, "then tell me this, Mr. Stephenie Meyer: why are all the other Quileutes here?"

"Good question," he replied, playing along. "Well, some of the elders wanted a break from us teenagers, so Sam and Emily volunteered to take all of us to Phoenix for a little vacation, while at the same time, using them as backup for you returning to Forks. I tried to get them to stay at a hotel, but you were so insistent of them staying over here that they agreed…"

"Lies," I mumbled. "The wolves are going to eat everything in sight."

"Don't worry; the wolf-girls are limiting them. You now have a pickle and a few bananas left."

"By the way," I added, motioning down towards my fresh t-shirt and comfortable slacks, "who changed my clothing?"

"Relax; it wasn't me or any of the wolves. The wolf-girls took you to your room when we got back, changed you, and then I carried you back down here. It's not like I want your mother to think you had a massive nosebleed." We laughed together, and then relapsed in silence. Jacob began to hum a familiar tune into my ear, and I realized it was our song, our wonderful song from back in Forks. Forks…and the airport…I had done some pretty stupid things to get to my mother, who was safe all along.

"I'm sorry," I said suddenly.

"For what?"

"For…everything, I guess. For lying to all of the Quileutes, for running off to Syrah without even telling you…'

"For nearly dying and taking yourself away from me forever?"

"Yeah, that too." I thought for a moment, feeling a need to change the sudden tense atmosphere. "Did you guys know that Syrah was the girl the clouds predicted?"

"Yeah, we realized that after we killed her," he said, his tone slightly cold at the mention of the huntress. "Sam talked with the elders over the phone, and they said the Forks clouds announced that the threat was gone. Rather magical, don't you think?" He laughed, and I realized that Jacob was laughing an awful more since I had woken up. But there was a sound that touched the edge of his chuckles and laughs. That sound was of relief.

"Can I ask you something else?"

"Now what?" he teased.

"Did Claire like give you some magic herb to protect your skin from Syrah's whip?"

"Kinda," he admitted. "It was a special herbal remedy that was like a defense for our skin against any sudden hits. If Syrah had planned them, it would've hurt, but we all know Syrah wouldn't have done that…I suppose you're going to ask how we found you now?" Before I could respond, he continued on. "We followed your scent, which hung in the air for a mighty long time. No offense or anything but…" I put my hand over his mouth, glaring at him, and he laughed a muffled simper.

My mother suddenly entered the living room, and her eyebrows rose slightly at the sight of us sitting together. I could imagine what she was seeing. A handsome, beautiful boy laughing and speaking affectionately to her daughter…If she was going to have another talk to me about "when a man and woman love each other", I was going to die for real this time.

"Hello, Jacob," my mother said, surprisingly smiling a genuine smile. "There's some coffee and breakfast in the kitchen, if you'd like. Emily sure knows her way around the kitchen…I think she knows it better than me!"

"That's not surprising," Jacob said in response. He put his mouth to my ear, and my mother's eyebrows rose even higher, as if they were about to go through the roof. "I'll be right back. If you need a distraction, give the coffee table a kick."

"You're horrible," I giggled back, pushing him playfully away from me. Jacob stood up from his seat, and gently patted my mother's arm before waltzing down the hall to the kitchen.

My mother turned to me, the curious expression still in tact on her face. She sat next to me, a steaming mug of coffee in one hand as she examined me. After staring at me for a while, she leaned in and gave me a warm one-armed hug. I hugged her back, glad to know she hadn't felt the wrath of the angry Syrah. As I hugged her, I caught the scent of her coffee and stared back at her with my own puzzled expression.

"Why does your coffee smell like your air freshener?"

My mom flushed red. "Claire was making the coffee, and she wanted to know what herbs I wanted in mine…I couldn't think of anything else…She's very good at this for someone so young…But let's talk about you! You didn't tell me you had such good friends, sweetie."

Now it was my turn to blush.

"The boys are all rowdy –they kind of remind me of when I used to teach high school classes– and all of their girlfriends are so nice and sweet…And my goodness; they're all incredibly good-looking. Especially Jacob. I've taught you well, huh?" She wiggled her eyebrows at me, and I laughed, giving her a light shove.

"Yeah, I guess you have," I said with a sigh. "Hey, where's Phil? Did he come back with you?" I asked, ready for the sudden change in topic.

"He's still in Florida…but he called me as I was landing and told me he got signed to a baseball team! Isn't it wonderful? His team bought this perfect little beach house for us –part of the contract, I guess– and you have your own room with a walk-in closet and there's the biggest pantry for the kitchen…"

"But Mom," I interrupted, "what are you talking about? I can't have a room with you and Phil. I live with Dad in Forks."

"What are you talking about, honey? You said many times before that you hated Forks. Besides, the house in Florida is literally on a beach! We're going to get our own boat and everything!"

"Mom, I have a whole life ahead of me in Forks," I explained. "I have friends, Dad, and this whole other group of people that feel like a family of mentors to me. And I wouldn't trade them for the world." It occurred to me that as I said this, the kitchen had gone awfully quiet. As I ended my sentence, I thought I heard Emily sniffle.

My mother finally caught my drift and lowered her voice. "Is it Jacob? Can't say I blame you if it is..."

"Not just Jacob," I replied, flushing red again. "It's the whole group of Quileutes" –minus Leah and Paul– "that's my reason for staying. Besides, you seem to like them all rather well."

"Yes but…" She took a small sip of her coffee, and peered at me over the rim of the cup through her chocolate brown eyes. "I think he's falling for you." She didn't bother to say who she meant; it was implied in her tone.

I smirked, knowing he could hear me. "I think so too, Mom. But the thing is, I love him back. It may not be entirely equal, but it's pretty save to say it's just as much. I'm absolutely crazy for him."

"Yes, darling, but…you're so young, but so in love! I saw you before with him, and it's like nothing I've ever seen. I'm pretty happy with Phil, but your relationship with Jacob is a billion times stronger than ours."

"Don't get over your head, Mom," I said gently. "I'll get over it."

"I hope so. He kind of looks like a resident bad boy, and I know he doesn't act like it, but I hope he doesn't break your heart, sweetie." She patted my knee reassuringly and got to her feet. "Do you want some breakfast? I can get Emily to whip up those delicious pancakes she made before…"

"It's fine, Mrs. Dwyer," Jacob said formally, and we both turned to see him standing in the hallway, holding a tray with a plate piled high with pancakes, and a large mug of delicious smelling coffee. "I'll take it from here," he said with a simper, and my mother laughed, a genuine one that didn't sound forced at all.

"Of course, Jacob. And please; you know you can call me Renée. I should probably go call Phil before he worries…Did you make sure that the other boys didn't trample my garden?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied cheerfully, walking over and setting the tray on the table. "They're playing football," he explained to me, sitting down next to me and handing me the mug of piping hot liquid. I sniffed it delicately, and inhaled the most amazing scent of cinnamon, cocoa, nutmeg, and vanilla extract.

My nose touched the small squirt of whipped cream Claire had topped the drink off with, and Jacob leaned over to wipe it away with his finger. He examined the cream for a moment, and then stuck it in his own mouth with a smirk. My mother stared at us for a moment, and then finally left the room. Jacob watched her leave, and placed the heavy tray onto my lap.

"Eat up," he said, stabbing a piece of already cut pancakes and lifting it to my lips. I opened my mouth, and he popped it in. After chewing for a few minutes, I could taste the most original things in there and I turned to Jacob.

"Apple cinnamon blueberry pancakes?"

"Very close," he replied. "It's Emily's recipe. It's apple cinnamon strawberry cream triple chocolate chip blueberry pancakes, and topped with maple almond syrup. Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it!" I opened my mouth for another piece, and he obliged. I took a sip of my coffee, and sighed at all of the flavors that lingered in my mouth. It was as if my taste buds were having a party…

"I'm surprised at you, Bella," Jacob said casually, popping another piece into my mouth.

"Mmph bwy?" I asked through a chew.

"I thought you would want to move to Florida with your mom. You like beaches, remember? Besides, I would be someplace where you wouldn't be in any real danger…Somewhere you'd be safe…"

It took me a moment to comprehend what he was saying, the way his eyes looked sad as he spoke, but in a rush, I understood and nearly spat my chewed up bite of pancake at him. I forced myself to swallow, and then spoke.

"What? Are you insane?" My lip trembled at the thought of him disappearing from my life, and a single tear ran down my face. "W-w-why would you say that?"

He sighed, and leaned over to gently kiss my cheek. His lips trapped the tear that had been slowly making its way into my food, and parted, allowing his breath to hit my cheek and warm it. "Bella," he said, voice muffled against my skin, "I won't go anywhere unless you want me to leave."

"Well, I don't want you to go anywhere," I retorted angrily. "After all, you're the reason I'm moving around with not a scratch on my body. You're the reason I'm even speaking to you right now."

"True," he admitted thoughtfully, "but I'm also the reason why you got tangled into the mess with Syrah. And standing in that alley, thinking I was too late to save you –too late to even hear you say another word– was the worst type of living hell I've even been through." He stabbed another piece of pancake, this time popping it into his own mouth.

"Hey!" He ignored me, lost in his own train of thought. "While you're eating my food, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" he asked mid-chew.

"Why didn't you put the other two and a half pints in? Then I would've been just like you, a she-wolf like Leah. Who knows; I might've even imprinted on you."

"Bella…" He took my head in both of his hands, forcing me to look at him. "You are the holder of my heart now, and I could never put you through the pain and agony of becoming a wolf. Were you not there when you were thrashing about because of the suffering that was going on in your body? It hurts, Bella, and it gets a lot worse because your body needs to grow, preparing itself for staying permanently the same age until you find the one."

"But I could make it through that," I fibbed, looking straight into his amber eyes. "All you have to do is hold me down and take my hand."

He grimaced, and looked away for a moment. "What about your family? The rest of your friends in Forks?"

"Renée has her own life to live with Phil, and Charlie's used to being by himself. After all, he's lived off his own cooking for a while as well. The friends in Forks aren't even what I would call friends. Maybe Angela is one, but not the others." I thought for a moment, and then found another bomb to throw at him. "Besides, I'm going to be aging every single day and you're going to be dating a gradually aging girl. How are you going to deal with that?"

"If Quil can deal with Claire, I can deal with you," he said easily. "Besides, if we're staying in Forks, I would never find a reason not to leave you."

"But what if you imprint?" I pressed. "You would leave me, an aging woman, by herself while you stay with some other broad. But, if I were a wolf, then I could imprint on you and we would be all right."

"I've told you this," he said, pressing his forehead to mine. "A wolf can't control his or her imprinting, so you can't force yourself to imprint on me. And second of all, if you were a wolf and I did find my…other one, you would hear my thoughts twenty-four-seven, and I would be able to feel all of your jealous or angry emotions. Something like the other she-wolf in the family…"

"Fine," I huffed, my breath tickling his nose. I leaned in unexpectedly and planted my lips on his. He jumped at my action, but let out a groaning noise and kissed me back.

Unexpectedly, there was a loud crashing noise from the large window behind us. I flinched, as did Jacob, and we turned to see Jared tackling Seth into the glass, a football tucked under the younger boy's arm. The wolves were putting on a big show of being hurt, even thought it was obvious that they were both okay, but I knew my mother's window wasn't going to last that long.

"Aren't you going to stop them?" I asked Jacob.

"Hey, if you can't beat them, join 'em." He jumped to his feet, and helped me up as well. "I'll throw your pancakes in the microwave; you can eat them later," he said, picking up the plate with one hand and dragging me down the hallway with the other.

"Where are we going?" I complained.

"To play football, my dear," he replied, entering the kitchen and throwing the dish in a microwave without a second thought.

The wolf-girls, who were gathered around the kitchen table, preparing food for another meal –lunch, which made some sense I guess, because of the wolves–, looked up at us. Claire's eyes lit up like Christmas tree lights.

"You're going to play football, Bella? Hell, if you're playing, I'm playing."

"I'll play too," Kim volunteered with a smile. "Emily?"

"I'd love to play," Emily sighed, "but I've got to get this stuff prepared before nine o'clock, or else there won't be any lunch for the wolves. And you know how wolves can get when they don't have dinner…" She pointed to Jacob. "Don't you, Jacob?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, rolling his eyes playfully. "Come on, guys!"

We herded outside, and the other wolves were more than happy to let us join their game. So, we split into two teams. All of the wolf-girls, plus Seth, were on one team while the wolves, minus Sam who had gone back into the house to help his love, were on the other team. My team gathered together in a huddle to go over the plan.

"So, here's what we're going to do," Seth instructed. "I need a receiver –doesn't matter if she's a wide or tight– to help my backs when we're doing the running. The strategy will only work if we have one back, two tight ends, and one wide receiver…Bella, you up for being a receiver?

I was in a daze. I had no clue what Seth had just said. A wide or tight receiver…for his backs? Was he insulting us? And how many backs did he have? "I…"

"Great! So, we're going to do a run to set up the pass. Bella, you'll have to be ready to fake a run in order to throw downfield to Kim when their team is least expecting it. Simple right? Right! Now, Kim, I need you to…"

"Do you know what you're doing?" Claire whispered as we separated to get into positions. I shook my head. "In the beginning, you just have to run with me to our end, and Seth will throw it to ether of us. If you get it, you're going to pretend to run, and then throw the football to Kim, who's going to be waiting at the other end, when the other team isn't looking. I'll try and just hand it to you when I have it."

"Thanks," I said gratefully, and she smiled back before jogging to Seth for the first move of the game. I followed her, a feeling of perhaps dread in my stomach.

Kim and Jared were head to head in the middle of my mother's wide backyard. Kim had the football in her hand, and was pretending to sneeze to gross out her beloved. But Jared had tricks up his own sleeves. When she wasn't looking, he stuck his tongue out and licked the top of her nose. She shrieked and pulled her head out of the crouch, wiping it with the sleeve of her shirt.

Seth stood behind Kim, a look of honest determination on his face as he watched the other wolves prepare for the game. He motioned for me to stand in the back with Claire, and I obliged, feeling rather silly. I looked straight ahead and saw that Jacob was playing the same position as I was. When he saw me staring at him curiously, he smirked and winked, causing me to turn away with heat rising to my face.

"Hut twenty one! Hut, hut, hut!" Seth cried out.

I had no idea what those words meant, but before I knew it, everyone started to move. Kim threw the ball between her legs, landing perfectly in Seth's ready hands. Claire was already halfway across the backyard, and I scurried to keep up with her. Jared was running easily alongside Kim, who was actually trying to outrun him, while the others tried to grab Seth's ankles. But, for a sophomore werewolf, he raced across the field easily. No one was guarding me, so I waved my hands to Seth.

He saw me, and threw the football over to me in a perfect spiral shape. I scrambled to catch it, feeling it bounce off my head before landing in my arms like a fallen treasure. I looked around, spying Kim making her way to our scoring area. I prepared myself to carry out Seth's strategy but, before I could, I felt someone tackle me.

I was airborne, hugged to someone's chest like the football I carried, and I had my suspicions on who it was that was holding me there. His arms formed a cage of steel protection around me, and he rolled himself to the ground with me alongside him. He gently plopped me onto the grass, and looked down at me.

"Bella, you okay?"

I sat up, grass sticking to my hair and staining my pale shirt. "Jacob! Why the hell did…" I looked around, immediately noticing that it wasn't my mother's backyard. "Why am I in my neighbor's garden?"

"Whoops; might've overshot it…" Jacob raised an eyebrow, watching me hold the football –which I had surprisingly not dropped– closely to my chest. "Hey, you still have it on you?"

"Yeah…What's it to you?"

"Well, in our kind of football, whoever has a body part on the football when it's dropped gets to decide who does the play. I guess that's you then." He did a back flip, landing on his heels without much trouble, and held a hand out to help me up. I got to my feet by myself, ignoring his hand, and lifted a loose plank on my neighbor's gate. The space was small enough for a teenager my size to fit through, but not one of Jacob's side.

"Looks like you're going to have to go around," I teased, slipping through the space and landing in the green grass of my mother's yard.

"I beg to differ," Jacob replied, jumping over the five-foot high fence like it was nothing.

As the game went on, the other wolf-girls looked like they were having a just as difficult time dealing with the opposing team of their boyfriends. When Claire got the ball and started to run home, Quil used his wolf speed to catch up to her and pick her up by the waist, throwing her over his shoulder and running back to his goal before Seth could try to tackle him.

Another time, Kim threw the ball between her legs to Seth, but Jared reached for it as it went through and also tried to stand up as he did so. Kim ended up with her legs draped on Jared's shoulders, refusing to let go of the football, but yelling, "Damn it, Jared!" the whole way to the boys' goal.

And, to make problems worse, every time I managed to get near the ball, Jacob would find some excuse to tackle me into the air and make us land in my neighbor's backyard. He always managed to make me land ether softly in the grass next to him, or flat on his chest, with me clinging on for dear life. I once warned him that he was going to wake up my neighbors, and he easily responded that he could hear them if they did.

Overall, the boys were having more fun than we were.

"Come on, guys," Seth encouraged as we huddled on our side of the backyard. "We've scored only twice so far, and they've managed ten touchdowns."

"They've been cheating!" Kim pointed out, rubbing her legs carefully where Jared had accidentally jabbed her while carrying her on his back to the goal. "Besides, I bet they can hear us right now, because they're using their werewolf hearing. Right, Jared?" she added in a barely audible voice.

"Right, sweetie!" called Jared from across the yard.

We all shot Seth looks, and he shrugged. "That's what they always do. What we need to do is keep trying, and hopefully the sun will be at its hottest point and we can go into the air-conditioned living room. Okay? Use your powers of a wolf-girl to your advantage!" His words seemed to inspire the two girls and they nodded in response. Unfortunately, they did little to help me.

When Quil had the ball in his hands, and Claire was running alongside him, she pretended to trip and landed facedown in the dirt. She let out a soft sob, and he immediately stopped what he was doing, walked back to her with the football, and bent down to see if she was okay. She slowly nodded, plucked the ball out of his unsuspecting arms and then ran like the wind, scoring a point for our team.

Kim used her words in the funniest way possible. Normally, she would yell, "Damn it, Jared!" if he outran her or was about to score. So, she acted as if she was out of breath and huffed her signature line for Jared. Satisfied, he slowed his pace to a more human one, and Kim caught up to him, grabbing from him and running off before he could comprehend.

But, like I said, I had no real plans that I could put into action against Jacob. If I tripped, he would score and then go to help me up. If I yelled, "Damn it, Jacob!", he wouldn't care because it signified nothing. The only thing I could do was brace myself for impact every time I went within one yard of the football.

"Why must you always tackle me?" I complained after another successful flight in the sky by Jacob Airways.

"Because it's funny watching your facial expressions as you fly," he replied, rolling over and letting out a yelp. I looked over to him, and saw that he had squashed several flowers of my neighbor's backyard. "My fault," he smirked, getting to his feet and offering me his hand again.

"Let's hope they think it's the squirrels," I commented.

"Ah yes, blame the poor, innocent squirrels. Like they have a chance." His eyes flickered with humor. "They kind of remind me of you."

I shot him a look. "Excuse me?"

"It was a joke, Bella," he said lightly, pulling me to my feet. "The squirrels don't have a chance, which is somewhat similar to how your team doesn't stand a chance at beating my team during this game of football."

I tried to give him a shove, but he didn't even budge. "Are you saying that a bunch of girls and Seth can't take on a whole team of mutant wolf players who act as if they are on steroids?"

His humorous smile vanished, and was replaced with a more mocking one. "Actually, yes, I do. In fact, I don't think your team can score another goal before lunchtime."

"Want to bet on that?" I challenged.

"Gladly. If we beat you…you have to…" He thought for a moment. "Ooh! I got it! You have to let me tackle you whenever I want when we get back to Forks!"

"Whenever you want?" I grimaced. "Fine, as long as it's never during school or in front of Charlie."

"Deal."

"But if I win…" I bit my lip, deep in concentration. "You have to…you have to change me into a wolf."

There was a long awkward silence, followed by a strange choking noise coming from Jacob's throat. "W-w-w-w-hat?!" he cried out, sputtering wildly. "I-I-I-I-I…You can't ask for that!"

"Why not? If you're so confident that you'll win, then there's no worry…right?"

"Y-y-yeah, b-b-but…"

"Then it's settled." I slipped underneath my neighbor's fence, and approached my team. "We need to score another goal," I announced to the surprised wolf-girls and Seth. I didn't bother to tell them about the deal; all they needed to know was that we had to score a point right now.

Jacob really didn't want to hold up his end of the bargain if my team won, and it obviously showed in his team's more aggressive approach to playing. The older wolves showed no mercy for Seth, tackling him so hard that the noise of their bodies clashing sounded like boulders crashing down from a mountain. They also seemed unfazed by the wolf-girls now, adapting Jacob's perspective at the game. It was as if Jacob had told them about our deal, and they were also determined not to turn me.

Eventually, Emily stuck her head out from the screen door and gave us the five-minute warning. Five minutes before the game would end, and we would have to go inside to eat lunch. This excited Jacob's team, and they huddled together, whispering in cheerful tones.

"Only five minutes left, guys," Seth sighed as we stood on our side of the field. "We can do this. One point is all it takes." We broke from our huddle, scrambling into positions as quickly as we could.

The ball was to Kim, and Seth hutted. The ball was transferred, and Claire and I ran to the side. Seth ran, but Quil was hot on his trail. Their motions were blurred to the point where they looked like out-of-focus pictures from a camera, and Quil pounced on the younger boy. Seth threw the ball just mere milliseconds of being tackled, and the football spiraled through the sky. And, dear God, it was coming straight towards me.

I was maybe two yards away from the goal. I could make it if I ran; the wolves were too far away to catch up to me in time. Maybe I could fake a run and a throw at the same time, so everyone was caught off guard. Yes, that was what I had to do.

I dived for the ball, catching the end of it by pure luck and rolling on the grass to my feet. I pretended to look for Kim, who was waving her slim arms around in the air, and faked a run and throw, my hand in the air. All of the wolves turned to Kim, who was staring around for the ball, perplexed. And that's when I started running.

Jacob was the nearest person near me, and saw what I had done. He started sprinting towards me, his feet barely touching the floor. Only a yard left now, if I could just close the distance…Jacob was gaining on me, maybe a foot away from me now. He was going to tackle me! Holy crap, he was going to tackle me again!

The chalk line on the grass showed the goal. I was half of a foot away when I felt Jacob push the small of my back. I fell forward, my arms outstretched to meet the line, and I braced for the weight of Jacob's heavy frame on top of my own. The lightest touch of Jacob's flat stomach and abs touched my back, sending shivers down my spine, and I realized that he in push-up position, hovering just an inch away from my body.

"Lunch time!" Emily called out from the kitchen.

Jacob chuckled, getting to his feet easily. "Looks like I win," he gloated, helping me up with a smirk.

"No way!" I exclaimed, gesturing to the football lying on the grass. From above, it looked exactly on the faded chalk line. "We agreed that any football on the line counted as a point!"

He shook his head, still simpering. "Look again, baby," he grinned, and I bent back down to the grass. From eye level with the ball, I could now see that it was maybe half an inch away from the line. "You see? I win," he boasted.

"B-b-b…I-I-I-I…"

"You know what time it is?" Jacob said, a big smile coming onto his face.

"Oh. Crap. You wouldn't…!" His beaming face told me the answer. "Damn it!"

And then I was airborne once more.

* * *

See? Aren't you glad I included the fluff? :D

As you can see, I tried to make Jacob lighter when it comes to the topic of Bella's changing, unlike Edward's reaction (Edward: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOO WAY JOSE! Jacob: You'll have to play me for it :D)

Criticism on my turn of fluff greatly appreciated (especially since I think I suck at fluff :P) but reviews are wanted even more, especially since we're this close *holds thumb and pointer an inch apart* to breaking 200+ reviews :)

Review! Vote! And don't forget to tell me for grammar mistake thingies... :P

~Geneth


	22. Epilogue

Oh dear God, it's the final chapter O_O

I never thought I would see the end of this fanfic. I remember when I suffered the **Twilight: Reversed Roles Drought** for a little over two months, and had no idea that I would actually be writing the final words of such an *epic* story. Can I just say I'm really proud of myself? :D  
I'm also quite pleased that I chopped up the chapter a lot. The original Epilogue was so jam-packed and bulky that it was a whopping 10,000+ words, most of which were quite unnecessary and I had a feeling that you -as readers- would never want to read such...fluffity fluff fluff. I had to start from scratch in order to give you the concentrated, more relaxed 5500+ words you see below.

I want to thank all of you guys for continuing to read this story, after all I've put you guys through. Thanks for being supportive readers, reviewers, and critiquers. I want to especially thank all of the _Project Prom Dress_ contestants for participating. Although I tried to put all of the dresses into the last chapter, when I was rewriting, I only got in the dresses that got votes, meaning two of them were unfortunately left out in the rain. Sorry about that :(

Okay! Enough chitchat! Go read before I start ranting again :) By the way, the winner of _Project Prom Dress_ is on the bottom, and that writer is now my beta-reader for **New Moon: Reversed Roles**. But you'll probably figure it out when you see the description of the dresses :)

~Geneth :)

* * *

Going back to school after visiting Phoenix was difficult. The Welcoming Committee was curious about why I missed a week of school, and I told them the truth: I had gone on a visit to see my mother. They didn't seem to buy it, and the boys accused me of running off with the Quileutes –who had also disappeared from school– and having some wild parties with them in Vegas.

I stopped trying to ignore their accusations after a while, partly because Jacob had already fanned the flames by finally acting the role of my boyfriend at school. I started to have a usual seat at the table between Jacob and Leah. Leah scooted as far away from me as she could, like I had some sort of infectious disease, but Jacob sat as close to me as possible, sometimes to the point where I was nearly on his lap.

I spent more time at the Quileute village, hiding from Charlie. He was grateful for Sam and Emily for bringing me home, but blamed Jacob for driving me away in the first place. He enforced a curfew, which Jacob ignored on most nights, climbing up the wall of my house and spending the night listening to his favorite lullaby.

The Quileutes gladly brought me into their little circle. The seniors of the pack, Sam, Jared and Paul, were graduating, which meant that they would be shipped off to Canada to live with the Kitcisakiiks for a while. Two out of three said they would miss me… I'll let you guess who... Claire's mother was offered a business promotion in another country, so Emily offered to care for Claire for a while. Claire was excited about going to Forks High with us, but I had a feeling that she would become known as the freshman who was the girlfriend of the infamous soon-to-be-senior flirter.

Oh, and Jacob didn't forget our deal. He tackled me so often when I visited the Quileute village; I grew into a habit of wincing every time he was next to me and made a sudden movement. He enjoyed this, and sometime moved his hands, just to provoke my odd behavior.

Life just seemed to go on, I guess, until that one day…

I was exiting school alone on a Friday, planning to meet Jacob at his car for a ride home, when someone grabbed me from behind and covered my eyes. I flinched, and got my arm ready for elbowing my attacker in the stomach, but the person spoke.

"Make one move, and I'll tackle you in front of everyone here," a voice purred softly. It occurred to me then that the hand covering my eyes was too warm to be human.

"What the hell, Jacob?" I groaned. "What's going on?"

"You'll see, you'll see," he replied, "now come on; walk."

I obeyed and allowed him to walk me to a car, where I was lifted by more warm hands and lifted into the van. Someone started the van, and we started to move. Eventually, I stopped struggling and listened carefully to the distinct voices of the wolves around me. Seth's familiar husky voice was coming from behind me, meaning he was sitting in the back with another gentle soprano voice, which I identified as Quil. Embry was driving , because the car made sudden stops often, and it was similar to his driving style. That left Sam sitting in the front seat –he liked being up front– with Jared directly next to me. Leah and Paul were never in the same car as I was. They drove their motorcycles to school often now, instead of sharing the same room as me. I sighed, and again wondered where we were going.

I heard Embry brake the car to a sudden stop, and the van halted. Jacob freed me from his body, opening the door and gently lifted me out of the car. Once we were both on land, he nudged me to walk forward again.

"Can't I at least see now?" I complained

"Not yet," Jacob said in a singsong voice as he directed me up a narrow set of front stairs. As we entered, I felt a pair of cool hands replace Jacob's warm ones. By the scent of her light perfume, I could tell that it was Kim, and I allowed her to guide me up another group of stairs and into a room. She closed the door behind her, and lifted her hand from my eyes.

I blinked, absorbing my surroundings. The bedroom I was in was bigger than most of the rooms in the Quileute houses, and had a large vanity in one corner that was covered with various makeup supplies and hair equipment. The bed was covered with different dresses, all of which were still attached with tags and wrapped in individual bags from different department stores. One of the walls was an entire mirror, reflecting Kim's gently smiling face and my shocked expression.

Emily and Claire popped up from behind the bed. "Surprise!" they chorused.

"Oh. My. God," was all I could say. "Crap. Crap. Crap."

"See? I told you she'd like it if we prepped her for prom," Claire said proudly, bouncing forward and grabbing my hand.

"You guys…are dressing me for prom? But it's…it's not today…"

"Of course it is!" Claire enthused, pushing me into a salon chair with a small sink attached to the headrest. "And all of us are going…even me!" Her brown eyes sparkled with excitement as she said this, and I realized the reason behind her new bubbly mood.

"Lean back," Emily said calmly, and I obeyed. "I talked with Charlie about it, and he said it was fine, as long as you stop by his house before prom to take pictures. And besides, this was partly Jacob's idea," she added as she turned on the water and proceeded to wash my hair.

"WHAT?! This was Jacob's idea?!"

"Partly," Kim corrected, sitting down on a stool next to me and pulling out a bottle of nail polish. She opened it and began to paint my nails with an artistic hand. "He said he wanted you to look fabulous for prom, and Claire suggested that we do a little makeover on you."

"What about you guys then?" I inquired. "Don't you guys need to get ready too?"

Claire rolled her eyes. "Of course we need to, but you're a top priority right now. As soon as we finish with you, and you're sitting in a place where you can't mess up our work, we'll work on ourselves. In fact, I'm going to take a shower. Which way, Kim?"

"Down the hall, last door on your right," she said absently. When I glanced at her curiously, she explained that it was Jared's house, and that we were in his mother's room. I struggled to remember how Jared's mom looked like, and came up with images of a foreign beauty with just a little too much makeup.

Emily finished with my hair and sat me up in the chair, rubbing a towel over my head repeatedly while occasionally spraying a scented mist that added shine and detangled my hair. "God, your hair is nice once you put it down like this…Kim, the garnet clips for her hair?"

"It'll match her dress," agreed Kim.

My ears perked up. Dress? "What dress…?" But, instead of answering me, both girls exchanged looks and giggled.

Claire returned, her light brown hair mostly dried and pulled into a sloppy ponytail, and began to help Emily naturally dry my hair with towels until Emily left the room to wash her hair.

Kim switched places with Claire, handing the bottle of nail polish to the younger girl and motioning towards my feet. As soon as Claire was polishing my toenails, Kim plugged in an electric curling iron and began to work on curling my hair. After applying an oddly smelling cream to a lock of my hair, she then wrapped it around the curling iron and held it for several seconds before pulling it away. To my surprise, a delicately constructed curl lightly bounced down. I must've looked surprised, because Kim smiled sheepishly at the sight of my face.

Emily reentered the room, her glossy black hair dripping on her blouse, and she casually swapped with Kim. Claire finished my toes, and set the bottle down on the vanity, picking up a large makeup bag and rummaging through it. After a few moments, she produced a small compact with a filmy white cream inside. She also produced a clear plastic bag on the other side of the vanity table, and pulled out a container filled with brown flakes. She sprinkled the flakes in the cream, stirred it smoothly with her finger, and leaned towards me, spreading it so quickly, it looked like she had done this her whole life.

After the cream, Claire pulled out another compact that was square-shaped and full of a powder that matched my skin tone. Crushing an exotic blue berry over it and letting the juice of it settle, she swirled a stout brush in it and applied it across my face, tickling my cheeks with the stubbles of the brush. At the same time, I could feel Emily effortlessly twirling locks of my hair at the base of my scalp, slipping a curl through the loop of another and snapping hairpins in place without hesitation.

Kim had just returned, and I was reluctantly allowing Claire to help me with the mascara brush and apply shiny lip-gloss to my lips when Emily suddenly stopped working. A small smile played on her lips as she walked away from my head to stand in front of me. Kim and Claire gasped in unison.

"Emily, you're a complete genius," Claire sighed and Kim nodded.

"Can I see now?" I asked, and the wolf-girls laughed and pivoted my chair to the vanity mirror.

The stranger in the mirror was stunning, as statuesque as a fashion model. Her warm brown hair, gloriously shiny in the light, was piled at the back of her head in a complicated bun, held in place with garnet-studded hairpins decorated with small diamonds. Ringlets of her hair were weaved though one another like a basket, overlapping and piled in a crown shape. Her skin was fair, touched so daintily with cream that it looked as if it had been Photoshopped. Her eyes were bigger than ever with the help of Claire's magical herbs added to the makeup. (**A/N**: **Pictures of Bella's hairstyle will be put up in my profile, in case you can't understand my description.)**

"Oh my God…you guys…" I felt my eyes begin to water, but stopped myself before I ruined the mascara.

"I'm going to need to prep their hair," Emily said, gesturing towards Claire and Kim. "Can you sit on the bed for a second…?"

"Sure!" I hopped up from the chair, eager to relive my duties as guinea pig of the day. As I waited, now perched on the edge of the bed, I examined some of the dresses lying on top of the bed. Curious, I looked at the one on top. I ran my fingers over the plastic, finally finding the price tag. What the hell…I skimmed through the other dresses and my mouth continued to drop time after time.

"What's wrong?" Claire was next to me, her hair in a cute bob, curly carefully at the end and pulled inside to frame her sweet face.

"These dresses are so expensive!" I exclaimed. "How did you have enough money to buy all of this?!"

"My mother," she replied proudly. "She's in the fashion industry, and she gets a pretty decent discount from certain branches of her company. These are all dresses from different parts of the clothing line."

"But still!" I spotted a pile of shoeboxes hidden by the side of the table and pointed. "You guys spent money on shoes too?"

"No, of course not! We looked over the dresses two days ago and bought the shoes yesterday," Claire explained. "Anyways, can you give me a hand with the foundation?"

It took me three tries to find the right compact with the foundation in it, and I worked much slower than Claire's speed on my own face. When I was done, Claire had to wipe off some excess powder but, other than that, I did a pretty good job. I don't know what Claire put in each makeup appliance, but it really was magical.

Emily finished with Kim's hair. Kim's dark layered hair was pulled back into a sloppy bun, fashioned at the side with random curls and wavy locks of her hair, and Emily had styled Kim's bangs in a way that showed off her eyes and lashes. Claire encouraged me to practice applying moisturizer and foundation on Kim, who was more than willing to let me try, and then we busily worked while Emily worked on herself.

Even though she was an absolute genius with our hair, knowing exactly where to put each and every strand, it looked like she was having trouble deciding how to fix her own hair. Finally, Emily took a large handful of her hair and laid it in front of the left side of her face. She smoothed it out with a comb and the scented mist, covering the red scars of her face completely. Embarrassed, I turned my attention back to Kim, but I could see that she was watching Emily as well. Claire walked over to her aunt's side and gave her a hug around her waist.

"Emily, everyone in Forks knows that Sa…I mean a bear did that to you. You don't have to hide your scars underneath your hair."

"Everyone knows, but they still stare, and then they talk," Emily sighed. "Besides, I'm not going to let this come in the way of me having a good time with Sam." She patted her new bangs carefully, and began to pull her hair into a soft twist at the nape of her neck.

After we finished the makeup, the wolf-girls ordered me to strip down and hold still. I obeyed reluctantly, and Kim gently hovered her hand an inch away from my face, careful not to ruin my makeup but making sure I didn't see the dress. Emily guided me to a pile of fabric on the floor, and the dress was pulled up and around me. Quick fingers laced the dress tightly shut on my back, while another set of hands fixed the satin train at the back of the gown. Finally, Kim lifted her hands and I saw my prom dress.

A brilliant shade of a ruby tinted garnet, the strapless satin dress was tight in all the right areas. At the mid-waist of the gown was a heavily bejeweled belt, and a cleverly crafted embroidery made of sparkling diamond beads that wrapped all the way around to the back of the dress, ending just at the middle of my thigh. A ruffled cutaway at my knees revealed the white lace skirt that was attached to the long sweep train at the back of my dress.

"Oh my…Thank…Thank…" I couldn't get the words out.

"You're welcome, dear," Emily said gently, setting a pair of dangerous looking stilettos on the floor. I stepped into them, and Claire pulled up the ending of the dress swiftly before I could gasp, wrapping the delicate shoe straps around my legs and snapping them into place. She reappeared in front of me, smoothing the lace and grinning timidly, her old shyness rising to the surface.

Kim hurried to the door, opening it and calling down the stairs, "Okay, she's ready!" She paused, listening to Jacob's distant voice. "Yes, we did everything you wanted. I swear! Jake, trust me on that…" She motioned me forward, and I stepped towards her, my legs wobbling from the heels. She squeezed my arm, and gave me a light push into the hallway. The door shut behind her.

I glanced around, finding a wide staircase that lead to a greatly lit room. Biting the inside of my cheek, I walked slowly towards it, blinking in the brightness of the front entrance of Jared's house. My eyes adjusted to the light, and I looked down to see Jacob standing at the front door, his glowing smile and eyes seemingly too big for his face. He was in a suit, something I once fantasized about but never thought I'd see in real life.

As gracefully and steadily as I could, I made my way down the twirling stairs, tripping on the last step and landing lightly on the ground with my face red. He made his way to me in three steps, and immediately pressed his lips hungrily towards mine. I kissed him back, and his tongue tapped my upper lip before he pulled away. He stared at me curiously for a second, before licking his lips.

"What is it?" I asked nervously, and he smiled.

"Hmmm, strawberry…" He leaned in again, this time to kiss my forehead and pull me forward so we stood face to face in front of the door. He smiled again, taking both of my hand in his. "I've got three prom surprises for you tonight, Bella."

"Three?" I said, skeptically. "It's only prom, Jacob.

"Three, for each letter of the word PROM," he said proudly. I looked at him, amused, but he didn't correct or realize his mistake. (**A/N**: **I could not resist making Jacob just a little dumb for just a second :DDDD) **Instead, he reached into his jacket pocket, producing a long wooden box. Engraved across the top, in the fancy calligraphy found only at the top of the Black family box, was the words, "To my Bella". My heart swelled, and I ran my finger over the words.

"It's beautiful, Jacob," I grinned. "I love it!"

"You didn't even open it yet!" he laughed, lifting the lid of the box.

Inside was a bracelet that was seemed to glitter and glow without much light. The bracelet consisted of a shiny silver chain, intertwined with several braided pieces of silk, all shades of red to match my dress. And, dangling from the middle of the bracelet, was a russet-brown wolf charm with features so precise that it looked as if it could come alive at any second.

"I made it myself," he said proudly, picking it up from the box and slipping it around my wrist. "My dad told me that a woven bracelet like this is the equivalent of a promise ring or whatever...I made everything but the chain," he added, snapping the clasp in place. "I know the wolf's a little sloppy looking, but I did all of it last week and…"

"Are you kidding me? It's perfect!" I ran my fingers over the wolf again, leaning forward to kiss Jacob on the cheek. "Thank you so much, Jacob. I…I didn't get you anything…And considering you got me three things…"

"Don't worry about it. You actually allowing the wolf-girls to dress you up and look like this" –he motioned towards my entire frame with a flourish of his hand– "is a big enough gift for me. Now, are you ready for gift number two?" I nodded, and he opened the front door. Parked in the front of the house, covered with all of the Quileute boys, was Isabella, Jacob's car and my namesake. The wolves, all not yet dressed in their fancy clothing, waved at us as they saw us.

"I know I said she was only going to come out during graduation, but I couldn't resist driving her to prom…especially with you…" He paused, cupping his hands. "Quil, if you step foot in the cab, I will take you down and you'll be going to prom in a wheelchair!"

I giggled. "I guess the boys have been all over it."

"Are you kidding? Embry asked me if he could take her to the prom as his date."

"Did you say yes?"

He glared at me, and I smirked. "You did!"

"He's not going to fit her through the door..."

Jacob shooed the others away, promising the imprinted wolves that their girls were almost ready, and helped me into the car, settling me down in the leather interior. The engine made an odd purring noise, one that sounded like a happy Jacob in wolf-form, and Jacob smoothly pulled the car into the street.

I'll spare you the details of Charlie's reactions, but let's just say his face turned three different shades of my dress before I had even stepped outside of Jacob's car. However, he kept his promise to Emily and instead turned his emotions to the classic "Fanatic Photo-taking Father" mode that most dads have.

Now, arm intertwined with Jacob's, I stepped into the gymnasium of my school and suppressed a smile. The gym was covered with more decorations than a three-year-olds' birthday party.

"What's so funny?" Jacob asked as he handed our tickets to the dateless freshmen guarding the entrance.

"Everything is so cliché," I replied. "The decoration, the punch table, the dance floor where everyone is dancing like idiots…The only thing surprising is them…" I motioned towards a small corner of the dance area, where the Quileutes danced easily with their dates. The Quileute boys had cleaned up nicely, and were decked out in identical sports jackets and suits, while the wolf-girls dazzled everyone in their paths.

Claire had changed into a burgundy short-sleeved dress that was covered along her front with stunning black beading, and she had given herself tall heels, so that she now came just up to Quil's forearm. Kim whirled with Jared in a red strapless silk gown that was twisted fashionably at the top. Emily glowed as she danced with Sam in a spectacular hunter green dress (**A/N: This was going supposed to be champagne colored, but green suits Emily more...don't you think? :P)** and the straps of her dress crisscrossed artfully on her back.

But Leah was the one who made me feel self-conscious, and the other girls in the room obviously felt the same way. Leah had chosen a dramatic midnight blue gown, one that was strapless and had a curved neckline at the front. The gown's seaming detail gave the appearance that the dress was layered, and the floor-length gown possessed a train just longer than mine. Her short hair was longer than the last time I had seen her, curling just under her ears, and a small crown was arranged on her head, showing that she had indeed won the title of junior prom queen. Her date, a junior who also had a prom king crown, twirled with her absently, possibly only going with her so he could receive the immediate royalty crown.

Jacob led us to the area where the Quileutes were dancing, and we slowly joined the rhythm of the dancing. I was uneasy on my shoes, but I finally got the hang of gliding as apposed to actually lifting my feet off the ground. We had fun, dancing for three songs straight. But, at the end of the fourth song, I suddenly felt Jacob stiffen. I looked up, watching his eyes shoot daggers in the direction of the gymnasium's doors.

I turned, and saw the always gorgeous Edward Cullen standing at the door. He stood awkwardly at the door, dressed in a button-down black shirt that had the top button fashionably unbuttoned. He started towards us, face apologetic but his eyes full of purpose.

Jacob growled towards him, and I nudged him gently. "Be nice!"

"Hey, Bella," Edward said, approaching us. He flashed a crooked grin that had all of the girls around me swooning. I smiled back

"Hey, Edward. What brings you here?"

"Actually, I have to talk to you…Do you mind if I cut in?" He directed his question ever so politely to Jacob, his abnormal honey-golden eyes meeting Jacob's amber ones for the first time. Edward was only a few inches shorter than Jacob, but gave the illusion with his stance and tone that he was towering over him

"Go ahead," Jacob said blandly, releasing me and taking a step back. He gave me a look, and turned, walking over to where the dateless Embry and Seth stood against the wall. Girls kept going up to Seth for dances, but the loyal youngest wolf denied them to keep Embry company.

Edward slipped his left hand in my right, placing his hand on my waist as I put mine on his shoulder, and we began to move gracefully along the floor. As usual, his skin was colder than anything I've ever touched, the exact opposite of Jacob's warmness.

"So, Edward, how you've been?" I asked, breaking the ice.

"Pretty good," he admitted. "Carlisle's been bribing all of us at the house if we would come to the prom. Alice was going to break down when he offered to expand her closet, so I offered to go instead."

"What's he giving you?" I questioned, honestly curious.

"He's going to make me a music room where I can record some of my pieces." He shrugged. "Nothing special. I could do without it, but he insists."

"Ah, I see. Well, as long as you're having fun," I added lightly.

"Yes, I'm enjoying the presence of a girl in the red and white gown, watching her sparkle like a diamond." I looked around before realizing he meant me. I turned away to hide my blush. "Carlisle wanted me to tell you something else," he continued, "and he promised to upgrade the piano if I told you…"

"Okay, what did he want you to tell me?"

"He told me…" He bit the edge of his perfect bottom lip. "He told me to ask you to break up with Jacob. It's so stupid, really. I'm really sorry about it…He even asked me to say 'please' and offer to be his replacement." He seemed embarrassed at that comment, and the blush on my cheeks blended smoothly into the next.

"He's still touchy about the Quileutes?"

"Yeah, he doesn't believe you went to Phoenix because you were homesick or you wanted to see your mother."

"He thinks Jacob had something to do with my sudden absence?" Edward turned away slightly, unresponsive. "Believe me, Edward, Jacob was the whole reason I came back to Forks. Without him, or any of the Quileutes for that matter, I wouldn't be at prom right now."

"Yes, I know that," he responded sincerely, "but Carlisle's pretty paranoid about the whole situation. He also told me to tell you that he's watching out for you." The song ended, and Jacob appeared behind Edward, standing with a bit of anger in his eyes.

"Thank you, Edward," Jacob said bluntly. "I'll take it from here."

"Of course," Edward replied, still polite, as he released me. "I guess I'll see you later, Bella, or whenever Esme cooks Italian."

I smiled, nodding in agreement. "Bye, Edward." And with that, he turned and left through the gym door.

"God, the nerve of him," Jacob muttered as he slipped his hands back around my waist.

"Hey, I told you to be nice."

"I was being nice. I didn't wring his neck for complimenting you. He didn't even say how perfect you are at this very moment."

I let out a breathless laugh. "You're just saying that."

"Am I?" He simpered humorously. "I'm not the only one thinking that." He waved his hands around him, motioning towards my friends of the Welcoming Committee. Angela, dressed in a tasteful red crêpe dress and black jewelry, was watching me from a distant, and she flushed and waved when she saw me looking. Jessica, looking rather queenly in a golden-rainbow dress that barely came up to her knees, was glaring over Mike's shoulder with an envious stare that could drill holes through a wall.

"Oh wait, I just remembered! You need your last surprise!" My last surprise? My heart started to thud wildly, as I suddenly thought about what it might be, and Jacob stared at me curiously, his werewolf hearing helping him hear my heart's new speed.

He released me from the dancing position, grabbing my hand and leading me through the crowd. As he hurried me towards the back door of the gymnasium, I saw nearly everyone in the room eyeing us with puzzled expressions. Soon we were outside, in the dim light of the setting sun. Jacob threw me over his shoulder, and winked at me. Then, he started running, going quite fast for a part-wolf boy in dress shoes.

We ran for five minutes, going into the woods behind the school, before Jacob was began to slow down. He skidded to a stop, scuffing his shiny shoes in the progress, and gingerly helped me off his back. Jacob walked forward, pushing a pile of vines away. He motioned me in, and I picked up the corners of my dress and went through, the sound of rushing water now becoming apparent to my human ears. My mouth dropped open in awe as I absorbed the sight.

A delicate river of crystal blue water ran slowly down a stream, catching light on the dozens of rainbow-colored rocks at the bottom of the bank. Right on the edge of the river was a marble bench, cleaned and polished, and covered with white rose petals. In fact, the entire path that led to it was covered with flying petals, all trying to escape from the enclosed area. Jacob had found a miniature replica of the falls in Seattle.

We sat down on the bench, and stared at the waterfall, the petals blowing around us like an old black and white film. I shivered from the breeze, and Jacob immediately took of his jacket, hanging it around me like a cape. He also put his arm around me, so I received double the warmth.

"Can I ask you something?" he said suddenly.

"Depends." I blew a stray petal off my lap. "If it's asking if I'm enjoying myself right now, the answer is maybe. I don't usually enjoy dressing up, dancing, and getting photographed by my father, but you're making it worth while."

He chuckled. "Actually, I was going to talk about something else. You seemed, I don't know, too surprised that I took you here, to a waterfall." He scratched his head. "When I pushed the vines aside, and you gasped, there was genuine shock in your voice, but I thought I heard some sort of…disappointment…" He glanced sheepishly at me. "Is it just me being a paranoid wolf?"

I looked away, embarrassed as usual. "It's not just you…" I muttered.

"Okay," he said slowly, "so why were you so shocked?"

I bit my lip. "You'll be mad…"

He tilted my chin up, so that my eyes met his. The amber in his brown eyes glowed, reflecting my face and the petals fluttering around us. "Please tell me?" he asked in a low voice. "I promise I won't get mad."

"I…" I pulled away. "When we were at the dance, and you said my next surprise was there so suddenly, I thought it was because the um…like the other wolves told you through your telepathy that um…the ritual…was ready…"

"Ritual? Wolves? The?" He continued to stare at me for the longest time, before realization slapped him across the face. His eyes flickered from blank to dead. "You thought…I changed my mind?"

"Hey, a girl can dream…"

"And on prom night?" He let out a breathless chuckle, suppressing whatever emotions he was feeling. "And you said the decorations were cliché." I opened my mouth to object, but he continued to speak, tutting under his breath. "You're ready to throw your entire life away, just to be with me? To be involved in a life you might not even want?"

"You make me sound so suicidal," I mumbled, shuffling my shoes against the dirt floor. "And my life isn't being wasted…as long as I'm with you."

He jumped up from the bench suddenly, amber eyes full of purpose. "So, if I decided to change you right now, you wouldn't have a care in the world?"

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"If I cut myself…" He traced an imaginary scar on his wrist, one that should've been permanent on a normal human boy's skin. "And then cut you…" He now traced a line from the corner of my eye all the way to my chin, where the marks of Syrah's whip should've been. "…You would be ready to run away with me, and live a life with the Quileutes?"

"Yes," I blurted out, digging my teeth into the inside of my cheek. I was so obviously bluffing…I think.

He stood over me, all six-feet-something of him, and took me by my bare shoulders, gently pushing me down onto the bench. The cold marble bench stunned my exposed back, but I forced myself not to react. Jacob knelt to the ground, so that his face was just inches from mine. His mouth parted, letting out a warm breath and showing off his strong teeth. Lightly, he pressed his mouth against the line he had drawn before on my cheek.

I flinched, waiting for the pain I had felt in Phoenix.

But, instead of the excruciating warmth and coldness I had felt, I felt Jacob's lips and tongue hovering just near my closed eye. "You honestly think I would give into temptation so fast?" He shook his head, rising from the ground and standing over me with his arms crossed against his chest.

I sat up, somewhat disappointed. "Like I said, as long as I'm with you…And remember, you promised at my mother's house," I reminded him.

"I did," he agreed. "Bella, you ought to know that even though I'm a –ahem– 'resident bad boy', I always keep my promise."

"So, you'll keep your promise about kissing me?

"Now, I don't remember that one…" He pretended to think, and then snapped his fingers. "Ooh, wait, I do remember now! I promised to kiss you exactly one week ago …"

"Oh shut up and take the hint, you big wolf," I teased, jabbing his side.

And, of course, like most intelligent creatures, my wolf guardian tilted my head up and obliged.

* * *

**THE END  
**For now anyways...

Hope you enjoyed this fanfiction :) I'll probably start writing **New Moon: Reversed Roles **and adding them to a brand new link in maybe October or November, depending on how much time from school I'll be getting. So, if you want to know instantly when I put the story up, simply click on the Subscribe to Author or Author Update button that goes with reviews. (Hehe, so you are now forced to review as well !!! :D)

Even though the story's done, it doesn't mean you can't write a review. Besides, the more reviews, the more interested people will be, and the more other readers will come :P So please, review :)

Love you guys :)

~Geneth

PS The winner of _Project Prom Dress _is....with the beautiful bejeweled ruby gown is **sbsp92** :) If **sbsp92** doesn't want to beta-read for me, **pattyoffurniture** will perform such duties :) (The three dresses worn by the wolf-girls were all submissions from one of my "ex-editors", so it doesn't seem fair to let her continue to read while the rest of you worked so hard)

PPS I'm considering putting up deleted scenes, even after I close up the story, so check back every now and then. You might seem a new scene after the Epiloge :]


	23. Surprise! Preview Chapter One

Psst...Psst!

Hello there. You thought this story was over, am I right? Well, I've decided to pull a Stephenie Meyer on all of you and put up a preview chapter for the upcoming **New Moon: Reversed Roles**. Hehe, I'm practically giddy with excitement :)

So, here it is: The ultimate Preview chapter, which for the record, is the longest chapter I've ever written for any of my fanfiction stories. Enjoy :)

~Geneth

* * *

Maybe it was because I had watched too much television the night before, or maybe it was because I was spending every breathing hour with my boyfriend but, for some reason, I was dreaming that I could see ghosts.

I was sitting on a plush white armchair, sitting directly across from my dead grandmother. She and I were both dressed in plain white gowns, facing each other with surprised expressions on our faces. Grandma hadn't changed since I last saw her nearly five years ago. Her long white hair, nearly blending in with her delicate dress, was up to her waist. She had refused to cut it and had forbidden me from cutting my own before she died. Her face was soft and papery, wrinkled with thousands of laugh lines and ceases in her skin.

I smiled at her, pleased to finally see her again, and she twisted her lips into a half-smile at the same time. I wanted to ask her something, something about where we were now and how had she been, and she opened her mouth as well. We both paused, embarrassed and waiting for the other to go first.

Suddenly, a soft playful growl sounded from beside me.

We both jumped in unison. The growl was familiar to me, one that I heard when he was in both human and wolf form. We turned to see a beautiful boy sauntering over to us, his glorious amber eyes full of life. Great, now I had to introduce my dead grandmother to my boyfriend, the love of my life and my guardian wolf.

Jacob, my Jacob.

He stopped next to me, resting his hand on the back of my chair. He cocked his head to the side, staring at me and then my grandmother in the mirror. And then, with no warning beforehand, Jacob shifted into a large russet-brown wolf, one that looked at the world through different eyes. Full of panic, I turned to my grandmother, and saw that on her face was a matching look of shock. Her brown eyes seemed to widen as she looked at me, with mixed emotions I couldn't read.

The wolf strolled up next to me, and sat obediently next to my leg. I raised my hand and stroked the fur on his back gently, the motion soothing me. I looked up to my grandmother, waiting to see her scared and possibly disgusted expression.

But her face surprised me. Instead of the feelings I thought I would see, her delicate features were twisted into a face of almost guilt. Her eyes pleaded with me to be silent about something I couldn't see. One of her arms was outstretched, and her hand was moving up and down over and over again, as if it was petting an invisible animal.

I blinked, suddenly seeing the strange metal frame surrounding us, the edge of it resting just a few feet away from me. I got to my feet, and my grandma mimicked my movements. We stepped towards each other in unison, step by step, until we were exactly five inches apart. Hesitantly, I raised my hand, as did she. Shaking, our hands touched and I was alarmed that her hand was cold, and felt like hard glass.

My body began to shake, and Jacob let out a whimper from the armchair behind me. Realization shot through my body like blood, and I looked my grandmother straight in the eye. Her eyes…they had always been a lighter shade of brown, not such a deep chocolate brown like…mine…

Suddenly, the mirror shattered, the other side giving way and glass flying in all directions. I shrieked and was thrown back, landing curled up in a fetal position with glass landing all over me. My body stung with the dozen crystals that dug into every inch of my skin.

Jacob walked towards me, back in human form somehow, absurdly handsome and forever eighteen. He stroked my cheek lightly, but suddenly, an equally beautiful girl with golden brown hair floated past us, her light purple eyes watching Jacob with lust in her eyes. Jacob glanced up at her, his eyes suddenly widening. He scrambled to his feet, running towards her and immediately linked his arm in hers. They started to walk away, looking like the perfect couple he and I could never be, when Jacob turned back and mouthed something inaudible with his perfect lips.

"Happy birthday."

I yanked myself upright, springing my body up from my bed. My heart was pounding louder and faster than a beating drum, and I could hear the blood rushing through my ears. My hand fluttered to my heart and I looked around anxiously. A dim light shone through the blinds of my windows, creating a dull glow that represented the sun of Forks, Washington. No fluffy white clouds, fancy golden frames, or plush recliners… _Just a dream. Just a damn stupid dream…_I told myself as I got slowly out of bed.

My alarm clocked buzzed quietly, and I hit the off button with a bit too much force. Next to the digital numbers was another group of flashing digits, this time announcing that today was September 13, otherwise known as my birthday. I dug my nails into the palms of my hands. I was now officially eighteen, the same age as my boyfriend and growing older by the minute.

Most people rejoiced when it was their birthday, excited about all the gifts they would get and the parties they would attend. I, however, started hating the coming of my birthday as soon as I met Jacob. I could feel it lurking behind me, the spirit of oldness creeping up behind me and slowly causing me to grow. Soon, in the stint of twelve months, I would be another year older.

Something Jacob would never be. That is, unless he found his perfect match.

His perfect match…We had spent most of the summer together, driving to Port Angeles occasionally with his pack and the wolf-girls, and I always kept him close, worried that we might bump into some busty blonde who would steal him away from me. Jacob responded to my new control over him with a simple shrug; he knew how much he meant to me and returned those feelings with emotions as passionate as my own.

I got ready for school in a daze, brushing my teeth and dressing in casual but heavy clothing. As I pulled on my faded pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, I examined my body for signs of aging or wrinkles that had so easily ceased my face in my dream. To my relief, I looked relatively the same as yesterday and the day before. _It was just a dream, you dope_, I reminded myself as I headed down the stairs and into the kitchen for breakfast.

Resting next to a bowl of cereal was my present from my parents. Charlie was already in his seat, and he looked up with mild excitement as I sat down and slowly unwrapped the package. A state-of-the-art digital camera and a whole USB drive to hold the pictures laid under the wrapping. I forced a smile at my father and thanked him, but Charlie just blushed and hid behind his newspaper. If I had been with my mother, she would've ordered me to try it out and do a bunch of things with it before she finally let it drop.

After I ate, I got into my like-new truck and drove gingerly to school. The image of Grandma's face kept appearing in my mind as I drove, and I nearly swerved out of my lane several times. I gripped the wheel with more force, turning on the radio and forcing myself to recognize the lyrics of each individual song. As I pulled into my usual parking spot and saw Jacob leaning against his glossy motorcycle, the feeling of dread that I had tried so hard to erase rushed back into me. Inhaling deeply, I turned off the engine of the car and slowly got out.

Jacob waved at me as I made my way towards him, and he straightened himself, brushing some dark hair out from in front of his liquid brown eyes. He was forever frozen in the picture of perfection while I was slowly turning into a withering old crone. And, in grease-stained jeans and a tightly fitting shirt, he looked more beautiful with every step I made towards him.

Waiting next to him was the rest of his pack, his almost family. Quil was sitting on his own bike with little Claire, his younger girlfriend, behind him. Claire had her arms around Quil's shoulders, and a pinch of jealousy crept up to my brain. She was already his perfect match and, in maybe two years, they would start aging at the same pace, probably dying together in their small but lovely home.

Also next to them were Seth, the miniature version of Jacob and the youngest wolf of the bunch, and Embry, Jacob's wingman and the biggest flirter of the school. The two boys had shared a bike on the way over, obviously saving gas. I scanned the parking lot for Leah, the only she-wolf of the Quileutes, and saw her pretending to read a magazine on a bench. As soon as I was within a few yards of the wolves, however, she got to her feet and stomped into the school. She was the only girl who hated me more than she hated life itself.

All of the boys were startling gorgeous, with smooth russet skin, dark eyes that glittered in the light, and glossy black hair that grew faster than an average human's. They all possessed the bodies of serious weight lifters, with hardened muscles and heights exceeding well over six feet. Leah was the female picture of perfection, with her cropped short dark hair and the kind of body you see on the cover of a magazine. Claire, who had no Quileute blood running through her veins, was a delicate darling, with light brown hair and a kind, heart-shaped face.

"Happy birthday!" they chorused loudly as I approached them.

I hushed them quickly, waving my hands around in the air like a maniac. I looked around, seeing with relief that no one had heard them say those dreaded words.

Quil raised a heavy-set brow curiously, exchanging a look with Embry and Seth. Claire, however, hopped down from Quil's motorcycle and stood in front of him with mild enthusiasm in her eyes. She was normally a timid girl, but when a stimulating event, like say prom or my birthday, came up, she turned into a bubbly girl who refused to leave me alone.

"We bought you presents! Do you want to open them now or later?" she asked eagerly.

"Never," I muttered under my breath.

Jacob chuckled, pulling me towards his massive chest and nuzzling the back of my neck. I shivered from head to toe at the touch. "You're so ridiculous, Bella," he said, and his breath tickled my back.

"I guess she wants to open them later," Quil joked lightly, massaging Claire's shoulders. "Did you like the presents from your parents, Bells?"

I managed a smile at the nickname the other wolves had given me. "How did you…"

"There was a mild storm yesterday," Seth explained, appearing next to me and giving me a warm birthday hug. That explained a lot; the Quileutes had the uncanny ability to predict the future just by looking at clouds during a stormy night. The wolf-girls and I were in-training to learn how to read them; Emily and Claire were pros while Kim and I struggled with just looking at them.

"I don't understand," Embry exclaimed, putting his hands on his bony hips. "Most people like celebrating their birthdays and getting presents."

"I don't like getting older," I mumbled, leaning my head against Jacob's massive chest to hide my blush. Jacob stiffened for a moment at my words, and then wrapped his arms around me, sending my heart into overdrive.

"But you're the same age as Jacob," Claire pointed out lightly.

"That's for now. But what about next year, and the year after that?"

Silence answered me. The wolves looked down with matching troubled expressions. It had been settled by Jacob that I was never going to be one of them, a she-wolf like Leah. Not only had Jacob firmly said no to the idea, but the Quileute elders recently told all of the wolves to keep close eyes on me, in case I did something crazy.

"What time will you be at Emily's house?" Claire asked suddenly, smoothly changing the subject.

I bit my lip. "I didn't know I had plans at Emily's. Besides, I have to work today."

Embry laughed softly. "Bells, we didn't even go through the school day yet, and you're so sure you're going to get a lot of work."

"I am," I insisted, struggling hard to avoid talking about the dreaded birthday party the wolf-girls had planned for me. "I also have to study for my History final."

"Oh please," chuckled Quil. "You're smarter than all of us combined, and I breezed through that exam yesterday. It was so ridiculously easy. You don't need to study for it."

"It's my birthday, isn't it?"

"I'll get her to you after we both study," Jacob told them, covering my mouth with one large hand. "I'm going to do some back-up studying as well, so she'll be at the house by maybe seven-thirty."

"Mmph hmm hmmm mmph hmm!" I replied, tempted to bite Jacob's slender fingers to get him to release me. It would be like biting a pencil made of steel, and he probably wouldn't even feel it…

"See? Bella's l-o-v-e-s the idea," Seth teased.

"We'll have fun, Bella. You'll see," Claire grinned as the first bell rang out into the air. "Ooh, we better get to class." We all started towards separate buildings, Quil walking Claire to her freshman classes while Seth branched off to his junior classes. Jacob kept one of his arms wrapped around me, holding both my bag and his over his free shoulder, and we walked slowly with Embry to our first class in the senior building.

It was amazing how Jacob's charms affected the receptionist of the school; he had smothered her with his eyes to let her put most of the Quileutes and me in the same classes. The teachers we received were almost always annoyed with us, and sometimes chose to ignore us unless we participated. The students, however, seemed to edge away from us with every passing minute. The Welcoming Committee talked to me only occasionally, Angela doing it easily while Jessica and Mike barely spoke without their envious stares.

As the day droned on, I thought of things I could tell them to get out of having to go. I could fall down the school stairs, something I nearly did on a daily basis, but Jacob would drag me there anyways. Any injury I would receive, Jacob would respond affectionately with me resulting ether against his chest or over his shoulder. There was no way out of this.

Teachers offered me small gifts because of my special day, mostly pathetic pencils with "Happy Birthday" scribbled on them or balloons to tie to my backpack, and I stubbornly refused all of them. It made me feel guilty that I was accepting all of these gifts, and by the gleams in the Quileutes eyes, my gifts from them were going to be more extravagant and with lots of bows and ribbons.

Growing up with a part-time teacher for a mother and a small town police chief for a father, I knew that money was tight and I didn't try to spent a lot. Most of the money I managed to make went straight to the bank, where it rested with a healthy growing percent of interest every month.

Jacob wasn't exactly a millionaire ether, but he still loved to spend lots of money on me. He didn't understand why I got embarrassed if he bought me a new necklace from Olympia or a dozen bouquets of flowers to decorate the small house I shared with Charlie. The other Quileutes showered their loved ones with thousands upon thousands of shiny objects, and it seemed like I was the only one who tried to give it back.

We went to our next classes, and I saw that Quileutes were showing signs of forgetting my birthday. I started slowly to relax, allowing Jacob to wrap his arm around my waist as we walked and letting him sneak kisses to my cheek and forehead when the teachers weren't looking. By the time lunch arrived, I was red from Jacob's warm touch but happy in a way.

Our new table was a long, wooden one reserved especially for seniors in the corner of the room. Down the middle of the table was an invisible line that separated us from the Welcoming Committee. On the stormy days when the Quileutes didn't go to school, conversation from their side of the table would branch out to reach Claire and I. The Welcoming Committee liked Claire, her soft manner and the way she helped them with the new senior Anatomy class, even though she was only a freshman. This was partly because Claire was a remedy genius behind the face.

As we ate, the boys clearing the plates before Claire and I could even take three bites, the main conversation was not of my surprise party but of the upcoming football game the boys were participating in against a neighboring tribe. The boys were serious athletes, and anyone who looked them in the eye knew that. Claire chatted cheerfully about an upcoming shopping trip with Emily to Seattle, and invited me along. I forced a smile, but secretly hoped Kim didn't want to go.

The easy-going Kim still went to a private school a few miles away from Forks High, and I rarely saw her, now that Jared had gone to Canada. She still came to visit Emily and the rest of the wolves, but something was missing from her. I think it was true happiness. Jacob had told me once that when the imprinted ones were separated, it was like a piece of themselves was missing. Kim was missing the piece of her life that was Jared, and it showed in the ways she spoke and acted.

The afternoon passed quickly after lunch and, after making sure Embry was going to safely drive his motorcycle back, Jacob walked me to my truck. He held the passenger door open for me, and I glared at him with my arms crossed against my chest.

"Hey, I can't even drive on my birthday? You must really love my truck."

"I thought you wanted us to forget it was your birthday," Jacob teased, placing his hands on his hips and mimicking me with a faux sour expression.

"Well then, if it's not my birthday, then I don't have to go to Emily's in fear tonight," I retorted.

He rolled his eyes and lunged forward, startling me. He scooped me up as if I was a child, arms under my knees and behind my neck. Despite my protests, he held the door open and sat me in the passenger's seat, holding me down with his right arm while he buckled me in. The wicked glint in his eyes only made him more attractive, and my attempts to escape were half-hearted.

After he closed the door and started to walk around the front of my truck, I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and scrambled to sit in the driver's seat. Jacob opened the door and raised an eyebrow at me.

"You know," he said with a smirk, "I will still drive with you there." He climbed into the car, lifting me up with one arm and slipping into the seat. Gently, he placed me back onto his lap, triumphant.

"You're going to drive like this? You'll get a ticket," I commented as he started the engine.

"So? It's your car," he said, his smirk widening.

We speeded out of the lot, and raced along the road, driving quickly towards Charlie's house. I felt glad that the windows of my truck were somewhat tinted, fooling most of the drivers who stopped next to us during a traffic light. One elderly woman looked at us, rubbed her eyes with both hands, and stared up at us again. Before she could gasp, Jacob hit the gas petal and we speeded ahead just half a second after the light turned green.

Finally, we paused and Jacob swerved the car into the driveway of Charlie's house, killing the engine and putting the car in Park in the same motion. We sat in the car in silence for a moment, but then Jacob gently tilted my head up with his left hand, lifting and turning my face to meet his. We stared into each other's eyes for the longest minute ever before Jacob moved his hand, lightly stroking the edge of my face with his incredibly talented fingers.

"I don't see why you don't like your birthday," he said slowly in a conversational tone. "I'm lucky if I even get to celebrate my nineteenth one anytime soon."

"I-I-I…" I stuttered nervously, my heart thudding loudly simply by his gentle touch. "I'm a…I a…Wha'?"

"I completely and utterly understand," Jacob murmured sarcastically, placing his finger on my lips. And then, with a tender and caressing touch, he leaned in to close the distance between our lips.

Warmth flooded my mouth, causing my cheeks to heat quickly. I kissed him back eagerly, my teeth nearly crashing into his by the sudden movement. His tongue traced the outline of my upper lip, and I shivered with delight. We held the position for a wonderful eternity, before I finally couldn't breathe and pulled away, panting and sweating quickly.

"Hmm, consider that your first birthday gift," he said with a simper, opening the door with one hand and lifting me over his shoulder with the other. After scooping up our bags from the trunk, Jacob carried me inside, rummaging in my jacket pocket and taking my key. His fingers brushed my waist and thigh, and I let out a squeal, accidentally kicking the door open. He raised an eyebrow at me and entered the house, closing the door behind us.

"So, studying in the living room?"

"Hmm mmh," I replied.

"Okie dokie." He walked us to the living room, dropping our bags next to the coffee table and plopping me down on the couch. I bounced up and down from the high drop, and I leaned up to get to my feet.

"You want something to eat?"

"Sure. I'll have a large popcorn and a super-size Coke."

I returned with a tray with two tall glasses of soda and a bowl full of popcorn. To my surprise, I found Jacob sprawled out on the carpet, a book propped in front of him, and his English and History notes neatly stacked next to him. I swallowed hard, setting the tray down before I dropped it. Jacob looked like a model posing for Vogue magazine; all he needed now was a photographer going, "Work it! Work it!" and he'd be ready to go.

"So, French Revolution, huh?" His eyes flickered up to me, and I bobbed my head up and down.

"Yep. That's what we're supposed to study…" I sank to the ground, and he pulled himself halfway up, motioning me to curl up next to him. I happily obliged, snuggling against his chest and warming from head to toe.

As we studied together, munching on popcorn and sipping soda every now and then, I couldn't focus on my notes or the textbook; all I could feel was Jacob's touch, and all I could hear was Jacob's velvety, husky voice as it slowly read each word from the book. If he did a recording of the entire textbook, I would play it over and over again, just to hear his voice run over each word with such fluency.

"Ah, _de Conseil des Cinq-Cents et Conseil des Anciens_," Jacob read off his notes, saying the words as if he had spoken French all of his life.

"_Oui, oui, mousier_," I replied in my less that fabulous accent. I turned to Jacob, expecting him to guffaw at my mispronunciation but found him staring at his book with a curious expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing, Bella…It's just that the _Counsiel_ is reminding me of the Témiscamingues."

"The who? Tee-mis-cam-en-goose?"

"Almost got it," he said with a smile, adjusting his position so that he could wrap his arms around my entire body while he leaned on his back. "The Témiscamingues are like the big tribal council for werewolves, meaning they manage all of the major wolf problems and whatever may come their way."

"Do they live in Canada too, like the Kitcisakiiks?"

"You paid attention!" he beamed, ruffling my hair teasingly. "And yes, they do live in Canada, Quebec to be exact. The only thing is the Kitcisakiiks live in Val d'Or and the Témiscamingues are in Norte Dame du Nord. In fact, do you remember the story of how Sam began to undergo transformation?"

I nodded. I could never forget that story, told as Jacob and I drove home together from Seattle. The sound of our voices in my truck, with the buzz of the silenced radio in the background, was a calm and soothing memory, and I often replayed Sam's story in my mind, trying to get a feeling of the emotions he felt.

"Well, before the elders confirmed that Sam was indeed a werewolf, they had to send him to the Témiscamingues to double-check. The Témiscamingues are a powerful people, ruling the entire werewolf population with an iron grip on everything done. Some wolves, after they feel they have endured enough, go there to seek retribution from the more than willing group of elders and wolves."

"Retribution? You mean…death?"

"In most cases, yes. Actually, if a wolf wants to die but won't go down without a fight, the elders hire wolf hunters or huntresses to finish the job quickly and efficiently."

A shiver went down my spine. "So it's possible that Syrah, Valeska, or Cain might've been hired to kill a wolf?"

Jacob shrugged. "Maybe. The elders tend to choose hunters that live close to their home base, so they don't have to go all the way down South just to find one. People don't bother the Témiscamingues with their troubles unless they truly have a death wish."

"Have you…" I hesitated, not knowing if I should ask my question. "Have you ever gone…?"

"I've considered it once," he admitted. "When I found you, beaten to death by the wrath of Syrah, and I was trying to fix you in that abandoned alley, the first thought that came to my head was, 'I want to join her.' Before Seth and the wolf-girls arrived to fix you, I already started planning how I would migrate to Canada and ask the elders to finish me off."

I pulled away from Jacob's embrace, staring at him with terror in my eyes. "Never go there, Jacob! Do you understand me? Never, ever, ever! Don't you ever let them take you away from earth, from me? Understand?" My last words broke off in a slight sob, and I collapsed on my knees, willing myself not to cry.

Slowly, as if he was trying not to startle me, Jacob sat up and crawled towards me. Once he was next to me, he gently placed his arm around me again and let me lay my head on his shoulder, my silent sobs shaking my body but not moving his. He kissed my head, stroking my hair while we rocked back and forth.

"You promise?" I asked in a small voice.

"I promise," he replied.

Suddenly, Jacob lightly adjusted my position, so that I sat cross-legged on the floor while he went down on his stomach to start cleaning up his notes. I blinked curiously at him, and he gestured towards the front door five seconds before Charlie opened it.

"Hey Jacob, Bella. I got food!" A large pizza box was in his hands, and he balanced it unsteadily with one hand as he hung up his jacket and gun belt. He peered at me. "Have you been crying, Bella?" He glared at Jacob accusingly.

I scrubbed my dry eyes, wiping my sad expression off my face and busying myself with tidying up my own pile of papers. "Oh, it's nothing. Just reading about Marie Antoinette gets me a bit emotional. Imagine, Dad; everyone in town rebelling against you and chopping your head off before you explain yourself."

"Thank you, Bella, for that lovely mental image," Charlie grunted sarcastically, shuddering as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Jacob chuckled, flipping his body to get to his feet. "Let's eat before you say something else discomforting," he teased, hoisting me up easily. The talk of our conversation on death seemed to be wiped clean, and I nodded, following him into the kitchen to eat.

As we sat together at the table, Jacob swallowing his three slices without even chewing, Charlie reminded me of a previous argument I had with the Quileutes. "So, you two have any plans for the evening?"

I opened my mouth to make up something, like how we were in desperate need of studying for History, but Jacob beat me to the punch. "Actually, do you mind if I take Bella to Emily's house? Claire's been planning a party for her for like weeks, and she would be disappointed if Bella didn't come."

"Sure, she can go. The game's on in a few minutes, so unless you want to listen to me ramble about the referee being wrong, you might want to go, Bella. By the way, when are Claire and Seth coming back up?" Charlie liked Seth, who was like the son he never had, but he loved Claire to a point where I felt like I was competing with her for his attention. She also always made her famous, homemade hot chocolate with extra cinnamon and nutmeg when she visited, and Charlie was badly addicted.

"Soon I think," Jacob replied. "Seth's been meaning to get his throwing arm back in shape before the game we have with another tribe, and Claire's been meaning to test out a new mix of spices to go with her drink, so you can expect them sometime this week or next week."

Charlie clapped his hands delightfully, like a small child. "Okay then. See you later, Bella. Oh, wait; don't forget to take your camera with you!" He breezed back into the living room, returning with the small digital thing and leaving as quickly as he had came

Jacob smiled triumphantly and, to get him back, I snapped a candid photo of his beautiful face. He blinked his eyes rapidly, rubbing them theatrically from the flash, and got up to put his plate in the sink. When I finished, and washed all of the dishes with the speed of a snail, he finally took my hand and led me outside to my truck. He opened the passenger door for me, and I got in without complaining, sulking slightly that I still had to come.

We drove along, passing by the La Push beaches that glowed slightly from the disappearing sun and into the woods to the group of Quileute homes that sprouted out from nowhere. I snapped away, avoiding conversation with Jacob while I worked. As the car drove down the road, Jacob cleared his throat. "I thought you might want to know that everyone is going to be there. Everyone."

It took me a moment to comprehend, and then I got it. "They're back from Canada?"

"Hmm hm," Jacob answered. The dread of seeing Paul, the angriest of the wolves, again made me uneasy, but it would be good to see Sam and Jared again. Maybe I could finally see the old Kim back. "Um, and Sam ordered Leah as Alpha to come too." He glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

I groaned, naturally. "She's going to make the party a living hell."

He patted my hand, steering the car into a parking spot directly in front of Emily quaint little home. "Don't worry," he said reassuringly. "She's on her best behavior, as is Paul."

I could see lights coming from the backyard of the house, and they got brighter as I climbed out of my truck with my camera. I let out a sigh, and Jacob smiled, wrapping his arm around my waist and leading me to the side of the house. Scattered flower petals led the way to the large backyard, and I gasped at the sights I absorbed.

Without decorations, Emily's backyard had only two trees on opposite sides of a largely fenced-in garden. However, Claire had strung dozens of multicolored paper lanterns –all smartly shaped like the outline of a wolf– across the trees and tied several balloons to the branches. A large table was set up in one corner, and it was piled with dozens of wrapped boxes, while on another table sat a elaborately decorated cake that smelled amazing, even from a few yards away. Emily's own recipe, I supposed.

The Quileutes were scattered around the yard, and they didn't see us at first. I took a picture of the backyard with my wide lens, and the wolves immediately craned their necks up at the noise of my camera clicking away, spotting Jacob and me at the side of the gate. Loudly, so that perhaps the people a few houses over could hear them, they let out a chorus of "Happy birthday!" I smiled, crushing myself next to Jacob and wondering if it would be okay for me to hide behind his massive frame.

Hugging me to his side, Jacob led me to a patio chair that was set up next to the back door. He sat down, pulling me onto his knee, as Claire made a few motions with her hands. The Quileutes understood, all of them going to the table loaded with gifts to fetch their presents. One by one, they stood in a line that looked more like a squiggly, and Claire pulled Seth, Embry, and Quil forward towards me.

"We saw this and immediately thought of you," Claire said sweetly, handing me a square shaped box wrapped with delicate brown foil paper.

"We had nothing to do with it!" Embry added with a smile, leaning down to give me a warm hug. Seth and Quil gave me a hug as well, and Seth tapped the box gently with his pointer finger.

"Open it up," he said encouragingly, and I obliged, ripping the paper off and gasping for the second time that night.

Directly in the middle of a bed of tissue paper was a small cellular phone, small enough to fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. It was a rich chocolate color, and on the back of the phone was a black stencil of a wolf howling at the moon. To my surprise, it buzzed suddenly, playing the song that I shared with Jacob, our special song. I peeked at the screen and the phone's screen announced that JAKE was calling me. I grinned, turning to see Jacob shutting his own phone with a smirk.

"Thanks, you guys," I said, giving them all another hug. "I love it so much. I hope you didn't go through any trouble…"

"Nonsense," Quil said with a smile. "We just had to wrestle with an middle-aged lady for the last one. Hey, if you look carefully at the bottom of the phone, you can see where she clawed her nails into it."

Claire smacked his arm. "Why can't you just say, 'You're welcome' like a normal person?" she asked, her tone only half-heartedly scolding.

They went off to the side of the line, and Emily, Jared, Sam, and Kim stepped forward. Emily handed me a large box wrapped in flimsy green paper, hugging me and wishing me a happy birthday.

As I accepted hugs from Sam and Jared, I couldn't help but comment on how much older Jared looked. "Did you grow?" I asked curiously.

"Yep," Jared replied, the familiar jokester grin appearing on his face. "Aging has finally caught up with me. I've grown half-of-an-inch since yesterday, and I think I saw a gray hair when I was spiking it this morning."

Kim grinned, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I think you look rather dashing."

"Course you do; you're getting old too!" He leaned down, pretending to bite her nose.

I forced a smile at their words, opening the box to reveal a dark gray trench coat that was decorated with lace designs and a lots of buttons. I stroked the fabric, my mind blank of what I should say.

"It's from Canada," Sam explained with a half-smile on his face. "Well, actually, France. But it was transferred to Canada, and Emily made me take like ten pictures of it before she told me to buy it for you." He glanced at Emily with loving eyes, and she returned them with a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you so much, you guys," I said, getting up to hug all of them once more. "I absolutely love all of my presents…" I was suddenly cut off by a throat clearing. All of us turned to see Paul and Leah standing on the sidelines, Leah actually managing a small smile.

"We got you something too, Bella," she said quietly.

"Really?" Sam stared at them suspiciously, his black eyes narrowing as he glanced from face to face. Both of their faces were perfect masks of innocence, and I looked shyly at the statuesque Leah.

"You didn't have too…"

"Well, it is your birthday," Paul replied, his usual angry tone smooth at the surface. He nudged Leah, and she ran off to the gate, disappearing around the side of the house. "She's getting it," he explained, and I exchanged a look with Jacob. This wouldn't be good…

"Here it is," Leah announced, walking back into the yard with her arm intertwined with my present…An elderly looking man with dark hair and familiar amber eyes, dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt. The man looked around at us, unrecognizable. I blinked, confused.

"We found Jake's grandfather, and brought him here to give you his blessing!" Leah crowed with false cheerfulness. Paul matched her expression with a forced smile of his own.

Jacob's face was suddenly grave, angry touched with bitterness. "How could you…" I thought I heard him mumble towards Leah and Paul, and Jacob's grandfather finally saw his grandson, with his arm wrapped around my waist. Jacob's grandfather blinked in confusion, peering at me with wrinkled eyes. Suddenly, he gasped, pulling his arm away from Leah and, with a shaking finger, pointed at his grandson with accusation in his eyes. It became clear to me why he was pointing, and I shrunk behind Jacob, willingly letting him push me behind his back.

"Jacob Black!" he exclaimed, starting towards us with a mad expression on his face. "Why, boy? Why?"

"Grandpa, don't make a scene…" Jacob started to say, but his grandfather interrupted him again.

"How could you disobey the Quileute tradition, and date a girl who is not your imprinted!" The words stung me as he said them, and I resisted the urge to cry.

And, just like that, the party got so much worse.

* * *

Dun. Dun. DUN!

Hehe :) Just because it's a preview chapter, doesn't mean you can't click on that little button on the bottom and review :D

Love all of you guys :) See you in October! :P

~Geneth

PS This chapter has been beta-read by the wonderful sbsp92, my new beta-reader/contest winner who is truly an awesome person :)


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